PAKATAN Harapan’s (PH) proposal to appoint two deputy prime ministers, one of them from East Malaysia, is to ensure equal progress and development for Sabah and Sarawak, incumbent Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii said. 

He said that Barisan Nasional, which proposes to appoint three DPMs, does not have the same aim.

“The position of DPM II is not a casual offer to political parties in East Malaysia to form a federal government but a policy to prosper the people of Sabah and Sarawak to achieve equal progress with the people on the peninsula,” the PH youth chief said in a statement today. 

PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday said the coalition is keeping to its promise to two DPMs if the coalition wins the general election next month.

Anwar said the DPMs will each represent the peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak. 

BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi meanwhile has pledged to appoint three DPMs.

Yii said today that PH is working to fulfil the terms of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63). 

“The DPM II position promised by PH… is for the purpose of accelerating progress in Sabah and Sarawak,” the DAP youth leader said. 

“The position is also in line with the amendment to the Federal Constitution regarding the MA63, which was approved this year and gives equal status to the states of Sabah, Sarawak and the Peninsula.

Yii said Sabah and Sarawak should have the infrastructure to seize opportunities arising from Indonesia’s relocation of its capital to East Kalimantan. 

“Sabah and Sarawak should have world-class infrastructure and be able to receive the abundance of prosperity that will be brought by the fifth largest economic power in the world before the year 2030,” he said. 

Indonesia announced in 2019 that it will build a new capital, Nusantara, in eastern Kalimantan.

The mega project is set to be completed in 2045. – October 27, 2022.