KUALA LUMPUR: Prominent lawyer Tan Sri Dr Muhammad Shafee Abdullah failed to secure a place on the Bar Council through the Bar Council election yesterday, despite being famous in recent years for representing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Shafee ended up in 22nd position with only 1,251 votes, missing out on the top 16 spots dominated by a group of young lawyers.
A total of 39 lawyers competed for the 16 seats for the council's 2024/2025 term.
Fahri Azzat, representing the women's rights group Sisters in Islam, led the list with 2,449 votes, followed by Anand Raj, the current Bar secretary, with 2,413 votes, while human rights lawyer New Sin Yew secured the third spot with 2,301 votes.
Azmi Ali, who took 6th place, is a senior partner in one of the largest legal firms in the country, while Gregory Das, who came in 10th, is the son of former bar president Cyrus Das.
The top 16 places will join 26 other members representing each state in the Peninsula to elect a president to replace Karen Cheah, the new secretary and treasurer of the bar, after the annual meeting in March.
The top places in the Bar Council election were also won by Kokila Vaani Vadiveloo; Larissa Ann Louis; Peter-Douglas Ling; Sarah Yong Li Hsien; Tunku Farik Tunku Ismail; Kee Hui Yee; Murshidah Mustafa; Collin Arvind Andrew; Datuk Yasmeen Shariff; Farez Jinnah and Abhi Subramaniam.