Ismail Sabri clocks in as the ninth prime minister of Malaysia at Perdana Putra on Aug 23, 2021. Sarawakians are awaiting the appointments of MPs from the state in the new Federal Cabinet. — Bernama photo
KUCHING (Aug 23): Sarawakians have of late been speculating on the number of MPs from the State, particularly from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), who will be appointed to the Federal Cabinet under new Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
There has also been much speculation on whether calls for the deputy prime minister post to be given to GPS would be answered.
Under Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s previous Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, GPS had four full ministers and four deputy ministers, while Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) had two deputy ministers from Sarawak.
Although GPS was not a member of the PN coalition, it was invited to join the PN government after helping Muhyiddin to secure the majority to lead the government 17 months ago.
GPS’ 18 MPs have since helped Ismail Sabri to form a new government following Muhyiddin’s resignation.
According to political analyst Prof James Chin, GPS should not expect anything less than the appointments it had during Muhyiddin’s era.
“It is quite obvious that without GPS, there wouldn’t be Ismail Sabri’s government. Obviously, he cannot offend GPS, which means he cannot give GPS less than what they had in the last government.
“Yes, it is true GPS asked for the DPM (deputy prime minister post). My take is that if the DPM post is not given to GPS, then he (Ismail Sabri) would have to increase the number of GPS representatives at the minister or deputy minister level,” Chin said when asked to comment on the matter.
The Asian Studies expert at the University of Tasmania in Australia, also believed that should GPS be given the DPM’s post, it is possible the coalition would not get four full minister posts.
GPS was hailed as the ‘kingmaker’ following the formation of the PN government in March last year and was invited by Muhyiddin to join the government under the PN Plus formula.
PBB senior vice-president Dato Sri Fadillah Yusof, who was Works Minister, was also appointed as one of the four senior ministers.
PBB secretary-general, who is also GPS secretary-general, Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi was Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumers Affairs; supreme council member Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar was Entrepreneur Development and Co-operatives Minister, while PBB Women’s vice chief Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri was Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister.
Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib, Datuk Hasbi Habibollah, and Datuk Henry Sum Agong were PBB deputy ministers, while Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang was the sole PRS deputy minister.
Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) president Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing was appointed as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to China after turning down a deputy minister post, while Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) deputy president and the party’s sole MP Dato Sri Richard Riot Jaem was appointed the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to East Asia (Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea).
Under the PN government, all other GPS MPs were appointed to head government linked companies (GLCs) and statutory bodies.
It remains to be seen whether Ismail Sabri would reappoint all of them to the same posts or reassign them to other portfolios in order to retain the number of GPS representation in the government.
Ismail Sabri has yet to announce his new Cabinet and has not invited GPS to join the government as his predecessor did.
Based on media reports, Ismail Sabri’s support as prime minister comprises 50 PN MPs (Bersatu, PAS, Star), 41 Barisan Nasional MPs (Umno, MCA, MIC, PBRS), 18 GPS MPs (PBB, PRS, PDP, SUPP), one PBS MP, and four independent MPs.
There is also debate on whether the new government should be called the PN or BN government as Ismail Sabri is vice-president of Umno — the backbone of BN.
Ismail Sabri was sworn in as prime minister on Saturday, after he secured the support of 114 MPs, who individually affirmed their decision to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Thursday.
In his maiden speech yesterday, the new premier did not indicate whether the government he is leading will be a BN or PN government.
When conveying his thanks for the MPs’ support, he referred to Bersatu, PAS, and Star individually instead of as a coalition but referred to BN and GPS as coalitions.
There has also been speculation that an MP from Bersatu would be appointed as deputy prime minister.
Yesterday (Sunday), SUPP secretary-general Datuk Sebastian Ting had proposed a DPM II post be created under the new federal administration and filled by a GPS MP.
He said SUPP supported Fadillah and Nanta for the proposed DPM II post as they are both highly experienced parliamentarians who had served as minister and deputy minister for many years.
According to him, SUPP believed the deputy prime minister II post should be reserved for Sarawak and Sabah — the two of three remaining equal partners in Malaysia — which have contributed much to nation-building since 1963.
The biggest representation from Sarawak in the Federal Cabinet so far was the appointment of eight full ministers on July 29, 2015 under then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
At the time, the four GPS parties were under BN Sarawak, which had delivered 25 parliamentary seats to the ruling coalition in the 2013 general election.
The full ministers were PBB’s Fadillah, Nancy, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim and Wan Junaidi; as well as PRS’ Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun and Riot from SUPP.
The other full minister then was Senator Datuk Seri Idris Jala, whose term ended on Sept 2, 2015, a few months after Wan Junaidi’s appointment as a full minister.
The number of full ministers from Sarawak then reduced to six after Uggah stepped down on May 12, 2016 prior to the 2016 state election, in which he contested.
He is now a deputy chief minister in the State Cabinet.