KUCHING: Ahmad Nazib Johari, who is PKR Santubong branch chief, is considered not suitable for federal-level posts, so he will only serve as an intermediary between Putrajaya and Sarawak, said Datuk Seri Abdul Karim opined.
The Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts in response to Ahmad Nazib’s remarks that the federal government was not obliged to consult Sarawak before appointing anyone to a federal position in the state.
“His (Ahmad Nazib) statement shows his inexperience in understanding state-federal relationships and therefore unsuited to an important federal position,” he told New Sarawak Tribune yesterday.
“He is a lawyer who has never been in the federal or state public service. Therefore, he will not be able to understand how a government is administered and managed, especially when it comes to Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
Karim said under the federal system of government, there is no doubt that the country has two levels of government (state and federal), with each being ‘independent’, but in reality, it involves a lot of consultations.
“That is, there is a federal secretary’s post in Sarawak who is tasked to guide and advise federal agencies in the state in case of any dispute with the state government and its agencies,” he explained.
He added that heads of federal agencies in Sarawak, including the immigration department, police, education department, and fire and rescue department, among others, are normally appointed by the federal government after consulting and getting views from the state government.
Apart from that, he said, Ahmad Nazib was not the right person who should be commenting on this as he is an “interested party”.
Earlier yesterday, Ahmad Nazib claimed that his appointment as the director of the Department of Communications (J-KOM) Sarawak had been approved by the Public Services Commission of Malaysia (SPA) and received blessings from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
However, it was rejected by the state government, so the issue now lies with the J-KOM Malaysia director-general and there has not been any decision made.
Ahmad Nazib also reiterated that the J-KOM Sarawak director position is a federal position for which the federal government is not obliged to consult Sarawak before any appointment to it.
