PETALING JAYA: The Sarawak government should focus on more pressing issues instead of giving importance to changing the designation of its head of government to “premier”, an analyst told theSun.
Universiti Malaya political analyst Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi said that after the big win of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) in the last state election, voters would want an empowered economic development policy for Sarawak.
“The need for a minimum wage in the private sector due to rising prices of goods and services, is one of the main problems today.”
Awang Azman added that providing employment opportunities, especially for graduates who have been jobless for a long time needs to be given priority.
He was responding to a report that the Sarawak assembly has scheduled the tabling of a Bill that seeks to change the formal designation of the state government’s top executive from chief minister to premier.
It was reported that the proposed move would involve an amendment to Article 6(3) of the Sarawak constitution, which among others, substitutes the words “chief minister” with “premier”.
He said the term premier in the Westminster concept refers to the head of a government.
Awang Azman said that in Australia, the title premier is used for heads of states.
“Similarly, heads of provincial governments in Canada are called premiers.”
He pointed out that the word “chief minister” is translated as “ketua mentri”, whereas there is no English equivalent for “mentri besar”.
“The head of the Commonwealth government and in the Westminster system is known as prime minister, premier, chief minister or first minister. This term is considered confusing when translated into the national language unless clearly distinguished.”
Awang Azman suggested it may be possible to work with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka to get terms that are more apt.
Another suggestion is for Sarawak to use the term “mentri perdana” for premier so as not to confuse the meaning with “prime minister”, which has long been used for the head of the federal government.
“If the term ‘premier’ is translated directly as prime minister, it would give the impression that GPS wants to equate the position with the post of Malaysia’s prime minister,” he said.
