MEETING’S OVER: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu (left) and Assistant Minister of Public Health Datuk Dr Stephen Rundi at the lobby of Wisma Bapa Malaysia.
KUCHING: The long-awaited state cabinet reshuffle may finally be announced next week.
Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, when telling this to reporters at the lobby of Wisma Bapa Malaysia here yesterday, however did not say on what day he would make the announcement and only hinted it would be ‘after Sunday’.
He also did not want to reveal if another deputy chief minister would be appointed or if there would be a new senior minister post.
Not wanting to disclose many things, his only response when asked on the new ministerial appointments was: “I don’t know. I will tell you next week”.
Taib, who is the State Barisan Nasional chairman, said several major changes could be expected although the line-up would not be so very different from the present one.
“Line-up will be not so far different from the past but they got to do jobs in a new way,” he said.
According to him again, there will not be any surprises when the line-up is announced. “No surprises. I don’t like surprises, you know that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan said the impending reshuffle was also discussed during the cabinet meeting at WBM chaired by Taib.
He said the Chief Minister had talked, amongst others, about making adjustments in the cabinet. He, however, did not elaborate further and he stressed that cabinet appointments is the prerogative of the Chief Minister.
Many political observers had expected the reshuffle to be announced this month, about five months after last April’s state election.
Taib is expected to ring few changes following the many vacant posts left following the massive loss of
Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) in the last state election.
SUPP lost 13 seats of the 19 seats it contested, and among those defeated was its president Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan who was the deputy chief minister.
Among the other casualties were treasurer Datuk David Teng who was an assistant minister and CWC member Tan Joo Phoi also an assistant minister while assistant minister Datuk Dr Soon Choon Teck was not nominated to defend his Dudong seat.
It will be interesting to see if a Bumiputera leader from SUPP gets a full minister post. Four of the six seats won by SUPP are in Bumiputera areas.
Observers also believe another full minister post would go to the Pesaka Wing of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) of which Taib is the president. They believe the post will go to State BN and PBB secretary general Datuk Dr Stephen Rundi, who is currently an assistant minister.
As for Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), it is now the number two component in State BN and many believe the party should be rewarded. There have been talks that its president Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing should be elevated to the DCM No. 2 post.
Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), on the other hand, lost two seats in the election and the defeated include deputy president Datuk Peter Nyarok who was an assistant minister. Many expected SPDP to maintain status quo in the line up or have at least one appointed as assistant minister.