KUCHING, Feb 15: The proposed Bill to change the title of Sarawak’s ‘Chief Minister’ to ‘Premier’ was tabled in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today.
The Bill, tabled by Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah was in accordance to the Constitution (Amendment) Act 2022 [Act A1642] which came into force on Feb 11.
The recent amendments to the Federal Constitution has restored the spirit originally contemplated by the parties to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
This Abdul Karim said, has placed Sarawak as one of the three regions and is to be regarded not with the same status as the other component States in the Federation of Malaya.
“The special status of Sarawak needs to be reflected in the manner different from other States in the Federation.
“In order to give full effect to the amendment of the Federal Constitution, it is necessary that the Constitution of the State of Sarawak be amended accordingly.
“Therefore, to correctly reflect the status of Sarawak as different from the other States in the Federation, it is proposed that the designation and style of Chief Minister be re-styled to Premier,” he added.
As practiced in other Commonwealth regions assuming a similar set up with Malaysia including Australia and Canada, Abdul Karim further explained that the Head of the Federation is styled as Prime Minister and Heads of Regions constituting the Federation are styled as Premiers, while the other sub-regions or states are headed by Chief Ministers.
In addition, the Bill also seeks to amend Article 7A of the Sarawak Constitution to rename Assistant Ministers to Deputy Ministers.
Currently, Article 7A provides the designation of ‘Assistant Ministers’ to assist the Chief Minister and Ministers to discharge their duties and functions.
“In view of the responsibilities that they hold and exercise, it is therefore necessary to reflect the proper designation and style from that of Assistant Minister to Deputy Minister.
“Hence, it is proposed that the designation of Assistant Minister be re-styled as Deputy Minister to better reflect their functions and responsibilities,” Abdul Karim said. — DayakDaily
