PETALING JAYA: Effective today, the title of Sarawak’s head of government will be “premier” instead of “chief minister”, according to its state secretary Amar Jaul Samion.
In a statement, Amar also said that the “office of the chief minister” will now be known as the “office of the premier of Sarawak”.
Likewise, the “deputy chief minister” will be called “deputy premier” and the “assistant minister” as “deputy minister”.
These changes are in line with the amendments to the Sarawak constitution passed by the state’s assembly on Feb 15.
This change came days after the Federal Constitution was amended to re-establish Sarawak and Sabah as one of three equal partners in the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
The change from “chief minister” to “premier” reasserts Sarawak’s status as a self-governing territory.
Sarawak’s tourism, creative industry and performing arts minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the title change would not bring about a significant change but was only meant to “refine terms”.
The term “premier” was first used in Malaysia for Singapore’s head of government, Lee Kuan Yew, when the island was an autonomous state in Malaysia from 1963 to 1966.
He was already prime minister of the island, which achieved full self-government in 1959, but was known as the “premier” of Singapore while it was part of Malaysia.
Sabah Bersatu has also urged its government to emulate Sarawak over the move to constitutionally change the title of “chief minister” to “premier” to refer to the state’s chief executive.
Its information chief, Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan, said the move had reinforced Sarawak’s status as no longer being on equal footing with the other states in Malaysia. - FMT
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