Sabah state gets new leader

Sabah state gets new leader

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's politically stormy Sabah state yesterday appointed an ethnic-Chinese leader as part of a controversial scheme to rotate the position among the state's three major races.

Former deputy leader Yong Teck Lee was sworn in as the eastern state's 10th chief minister, followed by his 10-member state cabinet.

Yong took over from ethnic-Malay chief minister Salleh Said Keruak, who quit early this month to allow the rotation plan to be implemented.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had named Yong as state leader earlier but his appointment was thrown in doubt as he was then involved in a court case for taking part in an illegal assembly in 1990.

But the court last week fined Yong just 1,000 ringgit (US$400), well below the 2,000-ringgit fine it would have taken to disqualify him as an elected representative under Malaysian law.