MIRI: With Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s appointment as Malaysia’s ninth prime minister, politicians should stop bickering over the post and start focusing on battling the Covid-19 pandemic, said Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) secretary-general Datuk Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew.
“Our King, Al Sultan Abdullah has made the decision to appoint Ismail Sabri as our 9th prime minister, and I hope it puts a stop to the political turmoil,” he said today after presenting 10 units of air conditioners worth a total of RM30,000 to Darul Ehsan Mosque in Piasau Jaya.
“Enough is enough. They (MPs) should go back to their respective constituencies and stop all the fights because political crisis is not good for the country.
“When the country is in turmoil, foreign investors will not invest. For foreign investors to come in, we need stability,” he said.
“Let the newly appointed PM manage the country until the 15th General Election which is due in July 2022,” he said.
On Ismail Sabri’s appointment as Malaysia’s 9th prime minister, Ting was confident he would bring stability to the country.
“I believe he will be a comprehensive leader for Malaysia and with his Cabinet, will try to help Malaysia recover from Covid-19,” he said.
Ting also believed that the newly appointed PM would continue to respect the Malaysia Agreement 1963, the Inter-Governmental Committee Report and all the Sarawak’s rights enshrined in the Federal Constitution and State Constitution.
Meanwhile, Sarawak would continue to get back all its eroded rights over the years.
Ting also hoped that under Ismail Sabri, two ministerial posts — Education and Health Ministers — would be given to Sarawak MPs.
“From this new government, the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) will request for these two posts to return to Sarawak,” he pointed out.
Ting also thanked former PM, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, for his contributions to Sarawak during his 17-month tenure.
“He (Muhyiddin) has done a lot to Sarawak. We will certainly not forget huge contributions from him in recognizing Sarawak’s rights and our State laws on oil and gas by instructing Petronas to drop the court appeal and pay Sarawak the five percent State Sales Tax (SST) on exported petroleum products amounting to RM 2.95 billion for 2019,” he explained.
Muhyiddin, he added,also supported Sarawak in getting equity rights in the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with Petronas through the Commercial Settlement Agreement (CSA) and in exercising its right to award exploration concessions for the onshore oilfields in Miri and Marudi through the Sarawak Oil Mining Ordinance 1958.
