It’s ‘Sarawak premier’ from today onwards

The Sarawak chief minister will be known as the premier of Sarawak from today onwards, as amendments to the state constitution passed in the legislative assembly last month take effect.

The office of the chief minister meanwhile will be known as the office of the premier of Sarawak.

The deputy chief minister will be known as the deputy premier, while assistant ministers will be known as deputy ministers.

The Constitution of the State of Sarawak (Amendment) Bill 2022 was passed with the support of two-thirds of the assembly on Feb 15.

Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah who tabled the bill said the amendments would reflect the special status of Sarawak in the federation, following the recent changes to four articles in the Federal Constitution relating to the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

He also said the move to replace “chief minister” with “premier” under Article 6(3) of the state constitution was similar to the practice in other commonwealth regions.

“The head of the federation is called the prime minister, and heads of regions constituting the federation are called premiers while the other sub-regions or states are headed by chief ministers,” he said.