Hajiji chairs first post-election Cabinet meeting

New chapter: Hajiji (centre) chairing his first Sabah Cabinet meeting.

KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor chaired the first state “unity Cabinet” meeting, reaffirming commitment to work closely to drive Sabah’s prosperity and progress over the next five years.

“We are well-equipped to deli­ver on this, leveraging the robust development and progress carried out in the last five years.

“We are ready to roll out our holistic, inclusive and comprehensive Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) 2.0 development plan in 2026,” he said after chairing the Cabinet meeting yesterday.

The Chief Minister also stressed the need to strengthen the state government to ensure political stability and uninterrupted progress.

“With this new administration, my Cabinet members and I will reinforce our commitment to maintain stability and champion a political agenda centred on unity and development.

“I am Chief Minister for all, serving all Sabahans fairly, without prejudice to their background, race or religion,” Hajiji said.

On Dec 1, Hajiji, the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah chairman, named his 11-member Cabinet that inclu­ded Upko president Datuk Ewon Benedick as Deputy Chief Minister III, Sabah Umno secretary Datuk Jafry Arifin as Tourism, Culture and Environ­ment Minis­ter, and PKR’s Datuk Jamawi Jaafar as Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister.

He also appointed Parti Bersatu Sabah’s acting president Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam and Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun from GRS as Deputy Chief Minister I and II respectively.

Others in Hajiji’s Cabinet are Datuk Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif (Local Government and Housing), Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan (Youth and Sports Development and Creative Economy), Datuk Rubin Balang (Rural Develop­ment), Datuk Julita Majungki (Women, Health and People’s Well-­being) and Datuk James Ratib (Education, Science, Techno­logy and Innovation).

Despite Sabah STAR president Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan stating that his party is not joining the unity government, the Chief Min­ister also brought in a representative from the party as well as four out of five Independents into his 17-member assistant minister line-up.