KOTA KINABALU, Oct 27 — Barisan Nasional (BN) will include the appointment of a Sabahan as deputy prime minister should the coalition win the November 19 general election, chairman of its state chapter Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin said today.
Bung Moktar, who is also Sabah deputy chief minister, denied allegations from Pakatan Harapan (PH) that BN was only spouting rhetoric with its proposal of three deputy prime ministers, including one each from Sabah and Sarawak.
"Sabah BN will see that promise through if pulls out a dominant win in GE15 and will ready a DPM candidate that is more capable and focused on the job as DPM,” he said in a statement.
The incumbent Kinabatangan MP said that the proposal to have the first deputy prime minister from Sabah would be a big boon for the state.
"They would be able to decide on matters which are critical to the state and in the interest of the people.
"There is no use to having a DPM post with no role and jurisdiction to decide on important matters,” he said.
He added that PH previously also proposed a deputy prime minister from Sabah, but noted that none were appointed after it won Putrajaya in Election 2018, which showed it to be an empty promise.
Sabah PH leaders yesterday claimed that BN chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's promise to have three deputy prime ministers was just a political gimmick without substance.
DAP policy bureau chief Chan Foong Hin said that PH had put a lot of thought into their DPM proposal which is to be one of the main thrusts of their manifesto, but had yet to publicise it.
Chan, who is on the PH manifesto committee, said that its DPM candidate would be empowered with its own Sabah Affairs Ministry and be able to see through development projects and the re-instating of state rights to Sabah under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
