Freshly retired, former chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said she has passed the duty of upholding judicial independence to the government and her unannounced successor.

Tengku Maimun, Malaysia’s first female chief justice, turned 66 yesterday, the mandatory retirement age for senior judges. She assumed the position in 2019, after the retirement of her predecessor, Richard Malanjum.

“I no longer have to...