KUCHING, Feb 15: Seeking to change the title and style of ‘Chief Minister’ to ‘Premier’ and ‘Assistant Minister’ to ‘Deputy Minister’ is about reinforcing Sarawak’s status and dignity as an autonomous State.
This was said by Mulu assemblyman Dato Gerawat Gala during his debate on the Constitution of the State of Sarawak (Amendment) Bill, 2022 during the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today.
Gerawat, who is Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Labour, Immigration, and Project Monitoring), called out Padungan assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen who refused to support the change of title to Premier, calling it irrelevant as it does not confer any additional powers to the Chief Minister.
“This amendment is all about our status and dignity as an autonomous State in the Federation of Malaysia. It is about the pride and dignity of every Sarawakian today and our future generations.
“This amendment is a visible historical and legal milestone to remind every Sarawakian, especially for our future generation, that Sarawak is not just an ordinary member of the Federation of Malaysia, that we are a founding member of the Federation of Malaysia and that we have special rights and privileges which other States do not have, except for Sabah,” he said.
Gerawat also noted Ba’kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian’s view that the amendment bill in as far as it seeks to change the title and style of the Chief Minister to Premier is unconstitutional.
“The term ‘Premier’ is used in other commonwealth countries such as Canada and Australia for the chief executive and leader of member states in their Federation.
“There is nothing unusual or objectionable in the use of the term Premier for our Chief Minister to reaffirm Sarawak’s special status in the Federation of Malaysia,” he said.
He also highlighted that the amendment incorporating MA63 and the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report into the Federal Constitution was not included in the amendment proposed by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government in 2018.
“That was the reason why GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) MPs abstained from voting. The amendment proposed by the PH government then was limited to Article 1(2), which was superficial and did not have any substantive effect without including the amendment to Article 160(2).
“The PH parties must have felt obliged to support the constitutional amendment tabled by GPS in December 2021 as the amendment was comprehensive and substantive compared to the amendment proposed by PH in 2018.” — DayakDaily
