Who are the four ministers that Abang Johari will name? Will that persons be Annuar, Hazland or Majang? Wong Soon Koh is not ruled out?

Now that the Constitution of the State of Sarawak (Amendment) Bill, 2025 has been passed by the State Legislative Assembly (SLA) and will soon be enforced after its gazettement, there is nothing wrong for us to go ahead  speculating as to who the additional four ministers will be.

Caption: Premier Abang Johari Openg has the sole prerogative to pick any SLM as members of his State Cabinet 

The amendment to Article  6(3) ( c ) of the State Constitution is to increase the number of state ministers from 10 to 14, excluding the premier.

The present number of state ministers is 10 plus the premier, that will be 11 in total. With the increase, the number will be 14 plus the premier, making the total to 15.

It is safe to speculate that the appointment of four new state ministers will involve the promotion of four deputy ministers.

So, who could that be deputy ministers who are likely to get promoted? Will Premier Abang Johari Openg pick one each from the four component parties of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) -  Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) or Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) - to be promoted?

It is doubtful if Abang Johari would do that, considering that PBB has 47 state assembly members (SLMs), while SUPP has 13, PRS 11 and PDP, eight.

Under the State Constitution, the premier has the sole prerogative to pick any SLM to be the state ministers. This prerogative cannot be questioned.

It is unlikely that the premier will pick any SLM, who are not deputy ministers, as full ministers.

If the appointment is based on experience as a deputy minister, then it can be ruled out that any SLM will be directly appointed as a full minister.

My guess is that most likely to be promoted to full ministers, from PBB, would be Deputy Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development Dr Annuar Rapa’ee, Deputy Minister of  Energy and Environmental Sustainability Dr Hazland Abang Hipni or even Deputy Minister in the Premier's Department (Law, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and State-Federal Relations) Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali.

Apart from Fatimah Abdullah, the Minister of Women, Early Chilhood and Community Wellbeing Development, there is no other woman as a full minister. Perhaps, the premier may want to add another one to be a full minister.

We also cannot rule out Deputy Minister of Utility (Sarawak Energy and Petros) Ibrahim Baki as another possibility.

If party seniority is to be considered, then Ibrahim is a likely candidate for promotion. In the last PBB convention, he garnered the most number of votes among the four elected vice presidents.

In SUPP, the two candidates potential for promotion are Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Michael Tiang and Deputy Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Sebastian Ting.

In terms of seniority, Ting is SUPP’s secretary-general and has long been a deputy minister.

The premier has several choices from PRS to pick as full ministers. My guess is that Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Port Development Majang Renggie and Deputy Minister of International Trade, Industry and Investment Malcolm Mussen Lumoh, are good contenders.

Both have vast experiences as the deputy ministers. In party’s hierarchy, Majang is the deputy president and Mussen, the secretary-general.

In PDP, the choice is between Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Penguang Manggil and Deputy Minister of Transport Henry Harry Jinep.

Penguang has a vast experience in the government, especially in local government administration, before he entered politics.

Henry was a very successful businessman before he entered politics. He is also PDP deputy president.

If Abang Johari does not pick either of them as full minister, then the likely candidate is veteran SLM Wong Soon Koh.

Wong was a full minister for many years, including holding the portfolio of Second Minister of Finance, before resigning in 2019 and took his now defunct party, Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), into the opposition bench.

Now that PSB has been dissolved, Wong, Baru Bian, Johnical Rayong become part of PDP.

We cannot never know if Abang Johari may pick Wong into his State Cabinet again, to tap his long experience as a senior minister before.

 Anything is possible. After all, the prerogative to appoint a deputy minister or full ministers soley belongs to the premier.

When four deputy ministers are promoted, there will be vacancies for the posts of deputy ministers.

Unlike the  number of full number ministers being fixed by the State Constitution, however, it is silent as to the number of deputy ministers to be appointed.

So, we can guess that when the premier announces the names of full ministers, he will also announce the names of  deputy ministers.

How soon he will do so, my guess is that it be soon, possibly this month or early next year.