Call to have DPM from Sarawak, Sabah needs proper study — Wan Junaidi

KUCHING: The call by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Batu Kawah chairman Datuk Ahmad Ibrahim for a third deputy prime minister’s post, slated for any non-Umno leader from Sabah and Sarawak, would need to be studied properly.

According to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who is also PBB supreme council member, this has never been done in Malaysia and should the grassroots really want it, they would need to consider various factors.

“If we wanted to go that way, we would need to look first at Vietnam, which has nine deputy prime ministers.

“In the end, their roles look the same; the position looks similar to a normal minister,” he told thesundaypost after visiting a project site at Kampung Rampangi near here yesterday.

Wan Junaidi, who is Santubong MP, also pointed out that if Sarawak requested for a deputy prime minister from here, other states which had also been contributing to the nation, would want this as well.

“Politically, this would be tough to achieve – if the government decided that such step would be taken, we would really need to look into it to ensure that such implementation would serve its intended purpose,” he said.

In a recent interview, Ahmad said PBB Batu Kawa would bring up the matter as its resolution, expressing his hope that PBB would consider the move deemed to be ‘good for the state’.