MA63 more important than DPM post, says S'wak premier

Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) wants Putrajaya to honour the terms of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) more than the offer of a deputy prime minister position.

Speaking at a coalition event in Kuching last night, GPS chairperson Abang Johari Openg said he has expressed this to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

"Last election we did not ask for anything, we went along with the election, we contested and if we win let it be but we never asked for anything in return, especially with regard to the upper cabinet post.

"That is the reason why the question of DPM is not our top priority because it is not on our agenda to secure the post. However, if people give it to us, we take it, why not?" he added.

GPS has been widely tipped to be given one of the two deputy prime minister positions. The coalition has 23 MPs and thus 15.5 percent of the government bench in the Dewan Rakyat.

Anwar is expected to make an announcement on the cabinet positions today.

Economic powerhouse dream

Meanwhile, Abang Johari (above) said Sarawak was poised to be an economic powerhouse for Malaysia due to the impending establishment of the Sarawak Sovereign Wealth Future Fund (SSWFF).

"In Germany, a very developed country in Europe, they have a region that uplifts its economy, that is called Bavaria. All the German successes are in Bavaria, and Sarawak wants to be the 'Bavaria of Malaysia'," the Sarawak premier said.

When formed, SSWFF will have a capital of RM8 billion.

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