Some agencies within the Prime Minister's Department (PMD) are "cannibalising" and competing against one another because of the similar roles they play, according to Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong.
"We used to have five ministers in the PMD before the last election, but today we have 10 ministers in the PMD.
"But more importantly, even within the PMD the agencies are fighting among themselves," he said.
One example is the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) and Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), which are both making economic projections and planning large projects, he said.
Another example, he said, is the Public-Private Partnership Unit (Ukas) that handles privatisation projects, which is a role that used to be played by the EPU.
Liew (left) raised these examples during a forum titled "Cabinet reshuffle: Will the new ministers be effective?" last night to illustrate the problems of an expanding PMD.
He said that in a normal Westminster-style cabinet, ministers become a check-and-balance mechanism against each other and the cabinet itself is a potential place for a "party room revolt" against the prime minister.
However, he said this does not take place in Malaysia because power is being concentrated in the hands of the prime minister and his large PMD, which now accounts for 10 out of 37 ministerial positions in Malaysia.
In other countries, the PMD does not usually have a ministerial position, or has a junior minister to assist the prime minister, he said.
In addition, Liew pointed out that the PMD's budget has expanded as well after the 2008 general election and the threat of a mass defection of BN parliamentarians to Pakatan Rakyat on Sept 16 that year.
The PMD accounted for five percent of the national budget in 2008, and this grew to about 15 percent from 2009 onwards. Most of these are discretionary spending rather than being earmarked for any particular purpose.
"The prime minister refuses to share power even within the cabinet. He finds it difficult to share power, therefore more money has to be concentrated in the hands of the prime minister," Liew said.
One consequence of this, he said, is "you help me, I help you" -style instant government grants.
The problem is compounded by the fact that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak holds a second portfolio as finance minister, which gives him the conflicting roles of spending public funds and to safeguard the public purse, Liew said.
Liew’s argument disputed
However, Gerakan vice-president Dominic Lau disputed Liew's argument.
He said in his experience in working with former minister in the PMD Koh Tsu Koon, he had seen the Gerakan leader spending late nights filing expense claims and justifying his expenses.
Lau (right) explained that if the claims are not in order, secretaries-general may refuse to approve the claims or they could face action from the government chief secretary.
He also refuted Liew’s earlier claims that the cabinet is acting like a rubber stamp and said issues are being deliberated properly during meetings.
"I have attended the cabinet meetings a few times during Koh Tsu Koon's time. I can see they really go through every minute, every matter, every issue, even though they don't have much time.
"I don't say they are perfect, there are definitely a lot of weaknesses. But then as I said, every Wednesday they really go through all these," he said.
He also explained that the EPU's role is to plan the economy alone, whereas Pemandu runs the transformation programmes and engages with the public on the programme, while Ukas runs public-private partnerships to help the government save costs on projects.
Meanwhile, another panellist at the forum, Penang Institute fellow Wong Chin Huat, argued that the cabinet positions are being created to buy off supporters and rivals.
Currently, a BN parliamentarian would have a two in five chance of getting a cabinet position, whereas the rest may get positions in government-linked companies (GLC) if the prime minister favours them, he said.
"The addition of cabinet members is not because the government has decided that it has more government business to do, but to split the existing business to more ministers.
"If it can be handled earlier by a smaller-sized cabinet, why do you need more ministers now?" he asked.
Wong added that with more ministers, it becomes harder for them to strike a consensus organise a collective action against the prime minister, hence securing the prime minister's power.
"We used to have five ministers in the PMD before the last election, but today we have 10 ministers in the PMD.
"But more importantly, even within the PMD the agencies are fighting among themselves," he said.
One example is the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) and Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), which are both making economic projections and planning large projects, he said.
Another example, he said, is the Public-Private Partnership Unit (Ukas) that handles privatisation projects, which is a role that used to be played by the EPU.
Liew (left) raised these examples during a forum titled "Cabinet reshuffle: Will the new ministers be effective?" last night to illustrate the problems of an expanding PMD.He said that in a normal Westminster-style cabinet, ministers become a check-and-balance mechanism against each other and the cabinet itself is a potential place for a "party room revolt" against the prime minister.
However, he said this does not take place in Malaysia because power is being concentrated in the hands of the prime minister and his large PMD, which now accounts for 10 out of 37 ministerial positions in Malaysia.
In other countries, the PMD does not usually have a ministerial position, or has a junior minister to assist the prime minister, he said.
In addition, Liew pointed out that the PMD's budget has expanded as well after the 2008 general election and the threat of a mass defection of BN parliamentarians to Pakatan Rakyat on Sept 16 that year.
The PMD accounted for five percent of the national budget in 2008, and this grew to about 15 percent from 2009 onwards. Most of these are discretionary spending rather than being earmarked for any particular purpose.
"The prime minister refuses to share power even within the cabinet. He finds it difficult to share power, therefore more money has to be concentrated in the hands of the prime minister," Liew said.
One consequence of this, he said, is "you help me, I help you" -style instant government grants.
The problem is compounded by the fact that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak holds a second portfolio as finance minister, which gives him the conflicting roles of spending public funds and to safeguard the public purse, Liew said.
Liew’s argument disputed
However, Gerakan vice-president Dominic Lau disputed Liew's argument.
He said in his experience in working with former minister in the PMD Koh Tsu Koon, he had seen the Gerakan leader spending late nights filing expense claims and justifying his expenses.
Lau (right) explained that if the claims are not in order, secretaries-general may refuse to approve the claims or they could face action from the government chief secretary.He also refuted Liew’s earlier claims that the cabinet is acting like a rubber stamp and said issues are being deliberated properly during meetings.
"I have attended the cabinet meetings a few times during Koh Tsu Koon's time. I can see they really go through every minute, every matter, every issue, even though they don't have much time.
"I don't say they are perfect, there are definitely a lot of weaknesses. But then as I said, every Wednesday they really go through all these," he said.
He also explained that the EPU's role is to plan the economy alone, whereas Pemandu runs the transformation programmes and engages with the public on the programme, while Ukas runs public-private partnerships to help the government save costs on projects.
Meanwhile, another panellist at the forum, Penang Institute fellow Wong Chin Huat, argued that the cabinet positions are being created to buy off supporters and rivals.
Currently, a BN parliamentarian would have a two in five chance of getting a cabinet position, whereas the rest may get positions in government-linked companies (GLC) if the prime minister favours them, he said.
"The addition of cabinet members is not because the government has decided that it has more government business to do, but to split the existing business to more ministers.
"If it can be handled earlier by a smaller-sized cabinet, why do you need more ministers now?" he asked.
Wong added that with more ministers, it becomes harder for them to strike a consensus organise a collective action against the prime minister, hence securing the prime minister's power.
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