KUCHING, Jan 3 — Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen has claimed there is an “unprecedented concentration of power” in the hands of the Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg under the new Sarawak state Cabinet.

In a statement yesterday, the Padungan assemblyman said this concentration of power by Abang Johari far exceeded that during the era of former chief minister Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud in the 1990s and 2000s.

“Firstly, Abang Johari is holding both the Chief Minister and the Finance Minister’s posts.

“Haven’t the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) learned from the mistake of the 1MDB scandal which was made possible because the Prime Minister was also holding the Finance Minister’s post?” he said.

Chong said with the establishment of Development Bank of Sarawak (DBOS) and Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros) which have at their disposal billions of Sarawakians’ money, including the possible current use of future money, it was all the more pertinent that the Chief Minister and Finance Minister positions must not be held by one person.

“Aside from being the Chief Minister, Abang Johari is also holding the minister posts for Finance, New Economy, Natural Resources, Urban Development, Energy and Environmental Sustainability.

“Each and every of these portfolios involves multi-billion allocations annually and all under the control of one person.”

Chong further claimed that through Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Datuk John Sikie Tayai, Abang Johari had “de facto direct control” over the portfolios of Law, Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and State-Federal Relations; Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring; Corporate Affairs and Sarawak Public Communication Unit (Ukas); Integrity and Ombudsman; and Native Law and Customs.

With all these, he said the Chief Minister’s Office controlled “almost everything under the state government”.

In addition, Chong believed the just-announced state Cabinet was “over-bloated given the population of Sarawak”.

“Abang Johari’s new cabinet consists of 11 ministers and 26 assistant ministers, a humongous 37 members out of a total 82 members of the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) and serving a population of approximately three million.

“Even the over-sized federal government consisting of 31 ministers and 38 deputy ministers serving a population of 32 million, pales in comparison with the size of the Sarawak Cabinet.”

Chong said the proportion of the number of Sarawak Cabinet members per one million population was 12.3 per one million population, whereas that of the federal Cabinet is 2.1 per one million population.

 “In terms of population size, the state Cabinet size is almost six times bigger than that of the federal Cabinet.”

“Is Abang Johari’s cabinet super inefficient, even compared to the federal government, that he needs so many of them to do the job? Or rather that, such appointments are used as rewards to the GPS elected representatives at the expense of public funds?”

In the 12th Sarawak Elections, Chong said the people had returned the GPS as the state government with a bigger majority of seats in the DUN, namely winning 76 out of 82 constituencies.

“It literally gives the GPS the absolute and unfettered control and overwhelming voices in DUN.

“Notwithstanding the huge majority, it should not be taken as an endorsement by the people for Abang Johari to do as he wishes, concentrating all power to himself and wasting Sarawakians’ money to reward his over-sized cabinet,” he said.

Nonetheless, despite having only two DAP elected representatives in the DUN for the following five years, Chong said they will continue to play their part in providing check and balance. — Borneo Post