Bung dropped from new Sabah Cabinet, Jeffrey promoted to DCM I

0

(From left) James, Liew, and Phoong take their oath of office.

KOTA KINABALU (Jan 11): The newly-reshuffled Sabah state Cabinet under Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor has seen Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) chief and Umno state liaison chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin dropped as deputy chief minister I.

In his place is Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, who was previously deputy chief minister II.

Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Joachim Gunsalam, who was previously deputy chief minister III, takes over from Jeffrey, while Putatan assemblyman Datuk Shahelmey Yahya is the new deputy chief minister III.

Shahelmey also replaces Bung, who is Lamag assemblyman, as Works Minister.

Joachim is now Local Goverment and Housing Minister, replacing Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun, who is the new Finance Minister.

In a statement, Hajiji said the Cabinet reshuffle is necessary and seeks to strengthen the Sabah government.

“We need a strong team. Realising the need to form an inclusive administration, I have included elected representatives from Pakatan Harapan into the Cabinet.

“The state government seeks to have leaders who have the same goals and appreciate all that is necessary to ensure efforts to develop the state are carried out smoothly without interruption as hoped for by the people. Political stability is vital to meet this goal,” he said.

Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sabah chair Datuk Liew Chin Jin @ Christina Liew from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Phoong Jin Zhe from the Democratic Action Party (DAP) are new additions to the Cabinet.

Liew is Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, replacing Datuk Jafry Ariffin, while Phoong is Industrial Development Minister.

Datuk James Ratib, who was previously the Assistant Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, has been promoted to Community Development and People’s Well-being Minister.

James, Liew, and Phoong were sworn in before Sabah Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin at Istana Seri Kinabalu this morning.

They later signed their letters of appointment witnessed by Kota Kinabalu High Court Judge Datuk Ismail Brahim.

Meanwhile, Datuk Jahid Jahim maintains his portfolio as Rural Development Minister and Datuk Ellron Angin is Youth and Sports Minister.

Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif has been appointed as Science,Technology and Innovation Minister, replacing Datuk Yakub Khan.

Tanjung Keramat assemblyman Shahelmey and Sugut assemblyman James were among the five Umno Sabah assemblymen against the party’s decision to withdraw support for Hajiji and had called for Bung’s resignation.

Last Friday, Bung announced that BN Sabah and Umno were withdrawing its support for Hajiji and the state government.

This prompted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to meet with Sabah leaders on Monday night to moot a unity government involving Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), PH, Umno, Parti Warisan (Warisan), and Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) in order to stabilise the state.