Abg Johari (seated, centre) gestures during the press conference. He is flanked by deputy chief ministers Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas (seated, second left) and Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan. Standing fourth right is Abdul Karim.
KUCHING: The Sarawak government has no plan for a cabinet reshuffle at the moment, says Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
The chairman of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) – Sarawak’s ruling coalition – said this yesterday in dismissing talks about his administration being in the process of forming a new cabinet line-up.
Abang Johari said the only cabinet reshuffle that he had learnt about was that of the federal side.
“I know it will happen over there (Putrajaya) but here (in Sarawak), not that I know of,” he said after chairing a PBB meeting at the party’s headquarters along Jalan Bako here.
Abang Johari, who is also Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) president, said he was puzzled as to how such a speculation came about when he had no plan to increase the number of members of the Sarawak cabinet.
“Are we going to have new ministers (in Sarawak)? Who are the new ministers?” he asked members of the press.
Abang Johari was prompted for confirmation in response to a report carried by a national Chinese daily, quoting Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah hinting about the possibility of a Sarawak cabinet reshuffle.
The report speculated that a new cabinet line-up could be in the making based on the speech delivered by Abdul Karim during a function on Friday evening.
An excerpt of the minister’s speech reads: “I welcome institutions of higher learning to come to my office with their working papers, and apply for funding if they’re doing research. As long as I’m still the minister, I will approve it.”
Abdul Karim pledged to continue granting fund for research on arts, believing that by doing so, the local culture could be preserved and passed on to the younger generation.
The current Sarawak cabinet line-up, with three deputy chief ministers, 10 full ministers and 18 assistant ministers, was formed in May 2017.