KUCHING, May 21- Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud (photo) yesterday reiterated his stand not to interfere in the recent appointment of federal Cabinet ministers, which seems to have evoked dissatisfaction among members of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), two Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties in the state.
He said he would leave the matter to be decided by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. “No, it is not my style. I do not interfere with what happens at the (federal) Cabinet (level),” he told reporters after attending the opening of the 17th Sarawak State Legislative Assembly sitting here.
Last Friday, PRS president Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing said their recently elected parliamentarians should have been given Cabinet posts relevant to the people they represented. Being a rural-based party, he said, they would not accept portfolios not relevant to their stand.
PRS won all the six parliamentary seats it contested in the recent 13th general election (GE13). Two of their MPs, Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun (Selangau) and Datuk Joseph Salang (Julau), were appointed a minister and deputy minister, respectively.
Salang, however, declined to accept his appointment as deputy tourism minister while Entulu was said to have been reluctant at first to accept his appointment as a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.
Masing, when met today, said Entulu’s initial reluctance was understandable as his ministerial appointment did not come with a specific portfolio.
Meanwhile, SPDP grassroots members have expressed disappointment because none of their MPs were appointed to the Cabinet.
The SPDP won all the four seats it contested in GE13, through president Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom (in Saratok), Anthony Nogeh Gumbek (Mas Gading), Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing (Bintulu) and Anyi Ngau (Baram).
Mawan insisted today that the SPDP members should not see the omission of their elected representatives from the Cabinet as having been done on purpose.
The party members should know that the prime minister understood their feelings, he said, and called for calm while placing trust in the BN leadership to iron out the issue.
“Let him consider where we should fit in. We don’t want to put ourselves in front and cause problems. I don’t think the PM wants to sideline us. … he is very reasonable and is (probably) saving the best for the last,” he said.
– BERNAMA
