Sarawak DAP MPs to play role of Unity Government backbenchers

KUCHING: All Sarawak DAP Members of Parliament (MPs) have assured that they will play the role of backbenchers in the unity government led by Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the Dewan Rakyat.

Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen also insisted that the posts of ministers and deputy ministers from the party were not its main agenda, regardless of whether at the federal or state level.

"The main thing right now is that DAP and PH are the main bloc at the Federal level and we (Sarawak DAP) will take on the role of providing checks and balances in Parliament as well as ensuring that the principles of transparency and good governance are implemented by the ministries and government agencies," he told a media conference after the state-level DAP committee meeting at the Sarawak DAP Headquarters today.

The Stampin MP said the party's principle was to develop the country and ensure a more trustworthy and transparent government, adding that some of the country's main agendas that needed to be focused on included current economic challenges and political stability.

DAP has four ministers and six deputy ministers in the unity government under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, but none of them is from Sarawak DAP.

The four are DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook (Transport Minister); Nga Kor Ming (Minister of Local Government Development); Hannah Yeoh (Minister of Youth and Sports); and V. Sivakumar (Minister of Human Resources).

The six DAP representatives named as deputy ministers are Steven Sim (Finance); Ram Karpal Singh (Law and Institutional Reform); Chang Foong Hin (Agriculture and Food Security); Liew Chin Tong (International Trade and Industry); Teo Nie Ching (Communications and Digital); and Lim Hui Ying (Education).

-- BERNAMA