DBP urges Sarawak govt to reconsider ‘premier’ title, says gives impression of a PM post at state-level

PETALING JAYA: Sarawak should reconsider its plan to change the title of its state government leader from the title "chief minister" to "premier", says Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka’s (DBP) board of control chairman Prof Datuk Awang Sariyan.

He said that there are long-term implications to the use of the term, such as the possible perception that there is a prime minister at the state level.

"One of the implications is that the concept of federalism which is the basis of the Malaysian Federation will be affected and this needs to be examined carefully," he said as reported by Utusan Malaysia on Tuesday (Feb 22).

Awang said many of his friends from Sarawak had expressed shock over the latest developments.

"I was surprised because DBP Sarawak was not informed, and so far there is no official meaning of the term in the dictionary to refer to the prime minister," he was quoted saying.

Awang said the word "premier" originated from France and was a modification of the Latin term "primarius", which means first or foremost.

According to Utusan Malaysia, the word "premier" is not listed in the world’s largest Malay language dictionary containing 120,000 entries.

Awang added that if Sarawak were to have a head of government with the same title as the prime minister, Sabah would have the same right too.

"The core issue is whether the term 'chief minister' has caused a lack of implementation in the Constitution related to the 20 special provisions for Sabah and Sarawak," said Awang.

Therefore, the term equivalent to ‘prime minister’ should be avoided because it could trigger the perception that there is a post of prime minister at the state level," he added.

Awang then said that there should be a fair discussion on whether there is a need to make changes to the Malaysia Agreement 1963, based on the Federal Constitution.

The Sarawak state legislative assembly approved a Bill to amend the designation of its state government leader from chief minister to premier on Feb 15 with 67 assemblymen voting for and six against it.