Guan Dee To Be New Deputy Minister

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Guan Dee Koh Hoi will replace Jeffery Kitingan as the new deputy minister of tourism, arts and culture. (Facebook pic)KOTA KINABALU: STAR secretary-general Guandee Kohoi has confirmed he will be sworn in as the tourism, culture and arts deputy minister tomorrow.
Guandee, 68, was appointed as a senator on Dec 16 last year, the first from the party led by deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan.
“Yes, it’s true. I will be sworn in at 11am tomorrow,” he told FMT.
“I received a notification from the Prime Minister’s Department through e-mail and by telephone just this Monday.
“Of course, I feel appreciated for my fight for Sabah. I will try my best in my new duty,” he said when asked about speculation that a senator from an east Malaysian state would be made a deputy minister tomorrow
STAR president Kitingan stepped down as deputy minister in September after he was appointed as Sabah deputy chief minister 2.
Guandee said the deputy minister’s position has been allocated to STAR and has been vacant since Kitingan’s departure.
He said he was also recommended for the position by Kitingan.
“I’m not too surprised because this position is a STAR quota. We only have one MP (in Kitingan).
“So, in order for someone from the party to assume a position in the Cabinet, that person has to be a senator,” he said.
Guan Dee had contested under three different tickets in previous elections but lost in all of them.
In 2004, he stood on the United Democratic Sabah People’s Power Party (Setia), in 2008, he was a PKR candidate while in 2013, he battled for the Beaufort parliamentary seat under a STAR banner. - FMT

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