Not much significance in renaming CM's post as 'Premier' - Abdul Karim

KUCHING: The Constitution of the State of Sarawak (Amendment) Bill 2022 that is set to be tabled at the State Legislative Assembly tomorrow will not bring about significant changes even though the word "Premier" has been proposed to replace "Chief Minister".

Sarawak Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said instead, the bill, which also seeks to substitute the words Assistant Minister to Deputy Minister, is only meant to 'refine terms'.

"The post of Assistant Minister can bring about confusion. There had been assistant ministers who went abroad (on official visits) and were treated as aides of ministers.

"Likewise, the CM (Chief Minister) I don't think we want to be on par with Penang or Melaka. When we formed Malaysia, the signatories for (the) Malay states (in the Peninsular, there was only one person representing them," he told reporters when met at the state assembly grounds here today.

Sarawak Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar, in a prior media conference, said the bill will be tabled by Abdul Karim with the second and third readings to be done on the same day as well.

Meanwhile, when asked about a suitable Malay term that can be used for 'Premier', Abdul Karim said the word can be used for both languages.

"The way I see it, the term 'Premier' is good enough for (use in either) Bahasa or English. If we can use 'Liga Premier' (as the Malay term) for the Premier League (sports), why can't we use Premier (for both languages)," he said.

-- BERNAMA