KUCHING, Feb 15 — The Constitution of the State of Sarawak Bill, 2022 which seeks to, amongst others, change the designation of “Chief Minister” to “Premier” has been passed at the State Legislative Assembly sitting today.
In the first round, DUN Speaker Datuk Amar Mohammad Asfia Awang Nassar had announced 54 members of the House had voted in favour of it, six had opposed, and that ten members were not present at the House. This led to Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh rising to point out that if the members of the august House were asked to cast their vote again, it would set a very bad precedent.
The objection by the six opposition members was mainly over the change of the term “Chief Minister” to “Premier” be removed with Chong describing the change of designation as “redundant”, while Baru Bian expressed concern that the amendment could be unconstitutional. “Sarawak has been given the same treatment of other states leading to the erosion of its rights which Gabungan Parti Sarawak is trying to recover,” he said.
With the passing of the constitutional amendment, the term “Assistant Minister” will also be renamed to “Deputy Minister” to better reflect their functions and responsibilities.