Malaysia’s monarch has given his consent to the appointment of Tommy Thomas as attorney general, ending weeks of deadlock with the government, which wants to accelerate the probes into troubled state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad. Critics have raised their concern following the government’s push in the last two weeks to have a non-Malay-Muslim as the new attorney general. Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said that Islam will continue to be safeguarded in the country, as he pushed back against critics who have questioned whether the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government is sensitive to Islamic interests. Thomas said he felt humbled by his appointment as the new attorney general. He described the appointment as an “awesome responsibility”.