Sabah DCM: One chief minister is enough

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Yahya Hussin laughs off proposal to have six chief ministers for state.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Yahya Hussin said it was sufficient for Sabah to have one chief minister’s post compared with the six proposed by a local opposition party.

Yahya, who is also Sabah Umno liaison secretary, questioned the rationale for the proposal which he described as comical.

“We must be rational. We cannot do things that are comical.

“We must be serious in offering our services and improve our work so that we can achieve the developed country status.

“That is our goal … not to have more posts that are useless to the people.

“Our country practises a democratic system. For us, we have a prime minister and a chief minister or menteri besar in each state.

“For us in Sabah, it is enough to have one chief minister and one cabinet. Our population is not big,” he told reporters after attending a luncheon in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration here today.

He said this in response to the pledge by Parti Kebangsaan Sabah (PKS) in its manifesto, as announced by party president Thomas Anggan yesterday and published in a local newspaper today.

“In addition to pledging to have six chief ministers, also included in the manifesto, if PKS rules, is to revert the name of Sabah to North Borneo, Kota Kinabalu to Jesselton, appoint a woman governor from among the Bumiputera community, and the state of Sabah to be led by a prime minister.”

Yahya said the people of Sabah were matured and educated besides being well acquainted with the political system, not only in Sabah and Malaysia but also internationally.

On Sabah Umno’s preparation to face the 14th general election (GE14), he said the election machinery was ready to be activated at any time.

However, the party machinery was always reminded to hold discussions among members to improve any weaknesses, said Yahya, who is also Sabah agriculture and food industry minister. -FMT