Abang Johari (second left) and Sagah (left) after the state Saberkas Executive Meeting in Kuching.
KUCHING: All Sarawak United National Youths Organisation (Saberkas) branches want Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg to continue heading the state’s premier and biggest youth organisation.
Saberkas deputy president Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn said so far there was no talk of electing a new president among members, adding he believed every branch and member of the organisation wanted the Chief Minister to remain as president.
“Who doesn’t want the top figure to lead their organisation? I think all of us in Saberkas still need his leadership.
“Ask everyone with me here. All of them will agree with me that Saberkas still wants him (Abang Johari) to remain as president,” he told a press conference after the state Saberkas Executive Meeting here yesterday.
Sagah, who is Assistant Minister of Native Land Development, said based on the branches’ triennial delegates meeting (TGM) held over the past one year, the Chief Minister might be returned unopposed at the state-level TGM, which is scheduled to be held here from Oct 14-16.
He said during the branches’ TGM held between Aug 2016 and Sept this year, all of them had passed their resolutions which included a proposal for the Chief Minister to remain as president.
“So, I believe during the TGM, his new term as president of Saberkas will be endorsed by the delegates,” he said.
The question of whether Abang Johari would continue to head Saberkas had lingered in the minds of many people ever since he was appointed Chief Minister.
However, Saberkas has always been headed by the Chief Minister as its president – third chief minister the late Tun Abdul Rahman Yakub was its first president, who was then succeeded by Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who is now Head of State.
Abang Johari was appointed Saberkas president at its 13th TGM in 2009, taking over from Taib who had helmed Saberkas for 28 years.
He was sworn in as Chief Minister on Jan 13, following the death of the state’s fifth chief minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem on Jan 11.
Meanwhile, Sagah said the TGM would also hold elections for various posts.
He said about 430 delegates and observers from the 62 branches across the state were expected to converge here for the TGM.
On the meeting, he said among other things the committee discussed on the organisation’s financial situation and activities that were organised for the last one year.
“At the meeting, the president also wanted us to encourage youths to be actively involved in digital economy and in modern agriculture,” he said.