KUCHING, March 24: The sooner Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg gets people who are plotting to destabilise Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) out of the way, the faster he would be able to get the ruling alliance ready for the state election, due in 2021.
Commenting on talk that a cabinet reshuffle was imminent, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing said it could be in line with his (Abang Johari) dissatisfaction, which he expressed in Marudi on March 20, with people in his cabinet who were undermining the stability of his administration.
Masing, who is also a Deputy Chief Minister, said Abang Johari doesn’t take such political manoeuvres too kindly.
“Reshuffling (the cabinet) and cutting off the perks given by the GPS government to those who tried to undermine GPS will clear those who have agendas of destabilising CM’s coalition.
“In this move, CM has my full support! The sooner, the better. As I have said before, ‘You touch one, you touch all!” highlighted Masing.
However, he was quick to remind that cabinet reshuffling is the sole prerogative of the Chief Minister.
Yesterday, University Malaya’s Associate Professor Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi commented that since ‘termites’ had been identified within the ‘house’ of GPS, they should be exterminated with immediate effect.
Awang Azman predicted that a state cabinet reshuffle was now imminent to get rid of these ‘termites’ in order to strengthen and consolidate the ruling coalition well ahead of the next state polls.
He was commenting on Abang Johari’s statement made in Marudi that GPS would get rid of ‘termites’ that had infested the coalition from within.
Masing opined that reshuffling the cabinet was the only way to solve the problem of ‘termites’ within GPS.
“For the group of people who claim that Abang Johari is their boss, that is a very strange way of expressing their loyalty i.e. cutting off one or two of CM’s house pillars!
“It seems, to me, that they are daring Abang Jo to sack them!
“Prof Azman is correct. CM’s ways forward in solving the political impasse is getting narrower by the `termites’’ activities by the day.
“Whatever CM decides in order to solidify his base within GPS, he has my solid backing!” said Masing. — DayakDaily
