DAP leader: Don't mock us with one, Sarawak should get two ministers

With the remaining cabinet lineup set to be sworn in soon, a Sarawak DAP leader has urged that at least two ministers and three deputies should be appointed from parliamentarians hailing from the Borneo state.

Serian DAP chairperson Edward Andrew Luwak said this would be in line with the promise made by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Pakatan Haparan in the latter's manifesto.

This comes after a list of possible appointees began circulating online yesterday, among which indicated that Sarawak lawmakers would only be accorded one ministerial role and one deputy role.

"The 'viralised' list of ministers and deputy ministers to be appointed shows that Sarawak will only have a minister and a deputy minister. Sabah, which won lesser seats, more so by a so-called 'friendly' non-component Harapan member is given a better deal with three ministers."

"The fourth pillar (of the Haparan manifesto) promises to 'Return Sabah and Sarawak to the status accorded in the Malaysian Agreement 1963'," Edward said in a statement today.

Elaborating further, he said Sarawak contributed 10 seats to the Harapan's overall success at the 14th general election - DAP with six and PKR with four.

"That was inflated to 12 (seats) after the jumping of two successful independent candidates to PKR.

"That swing of support has to be recognised and Sarawak rewarded.

"Ideally, Sarawak should be considered two ministers and three deputies," he said.

As such, he added, potentially only being accorded one ministerial post was considered a mockery by Sarawakians, especially too, as Sarawak was the biggest state in the country.

Too big for just a minister and a deputy minister "to travel the length and breadth" off, he said.

In the list which went viral yesterday, state PKR chief Baru Bian and state DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen were the sole Sarawak lawmakers listed, as works minister and deputy domestic trade and consumer affairs minister respectively.

However, a government source had cast doubt over the accuracy of the list, stating that it did not appear to be the final list. 

Meanwhile, the palace has stated that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V had consented to the list of remaining ministers and deputy ministers given to him, and that they will be sworn in on July 2. 

Currently, only 13 ministers have been appointed by Mahathir and sworn in, while the prime minister had stated that he would leave it up the to the minister to appoint their deputies, or not. The 13 ministers to date are:

Muhyiddin Yassin (Bersatu) - Home

Lim Guan Eng (DAP) – Finance

Mohamad Sabu (Amanah) - Defence

Anthony Loke (DAP) – Transport

M Kulasegaran (DAP) – Human Resources

Mazlee Malik (Bersatu) – Education

Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PKR) – Women, Family and Community Development

Mohamed Azmin Ali (PKR) – Economic Affairs

Zuraida Kamaruddin (PKR) – Housing and Local Government

Salahuddin Ayub (Amanah) – Agriculture and Agro-based Industries

Rina Harun (Bersatu) – Rural Development

Dzulkefly Ahmad (Amanah) – Health

Gobind Singh (DAP) – Communication and Multimedia - Mkini