Dr Chan: It will be good for the Chinese community if second finance minister post given to party after Soon Koh quits
KUCHING: Former Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan says it would be good for the Chinese community if the Second Finance Minister post is allocated to the party.
Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan
Dr Chan, who is a former deputy chief minister and former state finance minister in the early 1990s, said yesterday that ‘according to tradition’, the post of Second Finance Minister has always been allocated to SUPP.
“I know the appointment is the chief minister’s prerogative but it will be good and nice to see SUPP getting it. It’s good for the Chinese community.
“If according to tradition, it (the post) should go to SUPP,” he said when contacted by The Borneo Post yesterday on Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh’s decision to resign as Second Finance Minister.
Dr Chan said during his time as a Cabinet member, there was no Second Finance Minister post.
He held the state Finance Minister post from 1991 until 2004, when then-chief minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, in a cabinet shake-up, assumed the Finance Minister post.
He also created the post of Second Finance Minister and appointed Wong, who was then with SUPP. Wong was sacked from SUPP in 2014 following a leadership crisis and went to form United People’s Party which was rebranded this year as Parti Sarawak Bersatu.
Dr Chan, meanwhile, declined to say who among SUPP’s current elected representatives could be offered the Second Finance Minister post once it has officially been vacated by Wong.
SUPP’s current assemblymen are its president Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian who is Minister of Local Government and Housing, Assistant Minister of Community Well Being Datuk Francis Harden, secretary-general Datuk Sebastian Ting, Padawan Municipal Council chairman Lo Khere Chiang, and Sarikei branch chairman Datuk Seri Huang Tiong Sii.
Dr Sim was unable to be reached yesterday for comment on the coming vacancy of the Second Finance Minister post.
Earlier yesterday, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice president Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah played down speculation that he could be appointed as the new Second Finance Minister.
Responding to a news report on the possible appointment, Abdul Karim told The Borneo Post he was ‘happy where he is now’ as Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister.
He also said he did not expect Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg to carry out a major cabinet reshuffle following Wong’s exit.
“The right honourable CM may make a minor reshuffle of his Cabinet, (the) prerogative is purely his. I don’t foresee a major reshuffle but I believe there might be some new faces,” the Asajaya assemblyman said via WhatsApp.
Wong, who is also International Trade and E-Commerce Minister, told a press conference on Monday that his mind was made up on resigning from the state cabinet, but that it would only come into effect after he has met Abang Johari to personally hand over his resignation letter.
The Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) president had told his party’s Annual Delegates Conference in Sibu on Saturday that he no longer had the locus standi to remain in the Cabinet because PSB leaders were excluded from the latest councillors’ list, state statutory bodies and as community leaders.
He also said elected representatives from PSB had been deprived of Minor Rural Project and Rural Transformation Programme funds in the millions of ringgit since March or April this year.
Abdul Karim also said that Wong had made an honourable move by resigning from the Cabinet and that his absence would be felt.
“His absence as a Cabinet member will definitely be missed. He is a seasoned, articulate, soft-spoken politician and has never shown disloyalty to any of the CMs and state government of the day that he served.
“I wish him well and hope that he will stay strong in fighting for our beloved state in the capacity he is in now,” said the Asajaya assemblyman.