Wednesday 13 May 2009

Tan Drops as Sabah Deputy Chief Minister


Raymond Tan (centre) has been dropped as Deputy Chief Minister, replaced by Peter Pang En Yin (left). At right is Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman.


UPDATE

Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah who joined peninsula-based Parti Gerakan last week has been replaced as Sabah Deputy Chief Minister by Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Peter Pang En Yin but retained as a Minister in a minor State Cabinet reshuffle.
Tan, former deputy president of the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) which pulled out of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition in September last year, was partyless for almost nine months until he joined Gerakan.
Pang is a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Vice President and Karamunting Assemblyman.
The announcement ended much speculation and debate on who would be the Deputy Chief Minister under the Chinese quota. Pang's appointment also marked another milestone for LDP because his predecessor Tan took over the post after it was vacated by former LDP President Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat about 25 months ago.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said Tan, who had held the Infrastructure Development portfolio, would now Industrial Development Minister, taking over from Datuk Ewon Ebin who has been appointed Rural Development Minister.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who had held the rural development portfolio, has been appointed Infrastructure Development Minister.
Musa who announced this after chairing a State Cabinet meeting, Wednesday, also announced the appointment of LDP Merotai Assemblyman Pang Yuk Ming as Assistant Infrastructure Development Minister, replacing Datuk Michael Asang who has been appointed Assistant Industrial Development Minister.
Datuk Jainab Ahmad Ayid, who was Assistant Industrial Development Minister, has been appointed Assistant Resource Development and Information Technology Minister, taking over from Donald Peter Mojuntin who has been appointed Assistant Finance Minister.
The portfolios of the other ministers and assistant ministers remain unchanged. Musa said the appointments were made after getting the views of the leaders of the BN component parties and the agreement of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
"With the new Cabinet line-up, our agenda of giving priority to the people remains and we will continue to focus on working more and talking less," he said.
Musa hoped that Tan's position in the Cabinet would no longer be politicised, a matter he described as a waste of time and did not bring any benefit.
"Much remains to be implemented in terms of development which surely demands the commitment of the leaders and the undivided support of the people to bring success,"
Musa called on all leaders to pool their resources and cooperate to improve the lot of the people and develop Sabah.
On the position of Datuk Japlin Akim whose Umno membership was suspended for three years by the party's disciplinary board, Musa said he was still Assistant Infrastructure Development Minister.

1 comment:

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