Fadillah agrees that DPM post should have power

KUCHING: Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) senior vice-president, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, today said that he agreed with the view that the post of deputy prime minister (DPM) must come with power and is not just a mere post.

"What is more important is the formation of a stable government that understands the needs of the 'rakyat' (populace) in the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak.

"Creating a post does not mean solving whatever prevailing problems; what is important is that the post has power.

"In Sarawak, what we want to focus on is the return of Sarawak's rights, so if there's the post but with no power, it is not beneficial for the state," he said at the distribution of Keluarga Malaysia PerantiSiswa (gadgets) for students of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), here.

Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was recently reported as proposing that three DPM posts be created to represent the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak if BN wins big in the upcoming 15th General Election and that it would be included in the BN manifesto.

Yesterday, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) secretary-general, Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi welcomed the proposal but said that power which went with the post was more important than the post itself.

Meanwhile, Fadillah who is also Senior Works Minister, said the PerantiSiswa was a initiative of the government to assist tertiary institution undergraduates from families in the B40 group.

A total of 6,456 students of UNIMAS qualify to receive the PerantiSiswa, including 2,800 units already distributed up to yesterday.

-- BERNAMA