With a dearth of talent among MPs, can Ismail succeed?

 

With three governments formed since the general election of May 2018, Malaysians have become really tired of all the goings-on in politics.

We had seen betrayal after betrayal as elected representatives switched parties at their whims and fancies.

Then ministers, their deputies, and menteris besar and chief ministers were seen to be violating Covid-19 SOPs. They appeared to be thumbing their noses at ordinary Malaysians who kept questioning their apparent impunity.

Over in Parliament, the Dewan Rakyat Speaker’s performance was called into question several times over the last 17 months. With the sittings going live each time, Malaysians witnessed the way Azhar Azizan Harun operated, with his impartiality often seen to be wavering.

Then there was Umno and its former president Najib Razak hard on the heels of Muhyiddin Yassin and the Perikatan Nasional government, continuously pointing out how badly Muhyiddin had failed in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic and posting as many as six pieces in a day on his Facebook account.

Now that Umno has achieved its aim of taking over the driver’s seat although with someone who was a key figure in the failed government, does the equation change for these parties?

The government is expected to be pretty much the same. Let’s face it, the Bersatu-Umno animosity is not going to change much over the long term. The wounds caused by the serious verbal spats will remain for some time, especially with Muhyiddin still a force to be reckoned with as the leader of Bersatu.

He has not been mincing his words by continuously chiding the “kleptocrats,” saying he will not let them take over and that Bersatu’s condition for supporting Ismail Sabri Yaakob as prime minister was on condition that none of them are appointed to the Cabinet.

This is really a joke, because he came to power via the Sheraton Move in February 2020 with the help of the “kleptocrats”. And now, his party is a senior partner in the new government, possibly getting the deputy prime minister’s position and working alongside them. This is absolute hypocrisy, one might say.

According to party insiders, the daggers will be out with the final battle between the two leading parties expected to take place at the next general election (GE15) which could be held as early as next year.

In the meantime, Malaysians can only hope for the government to be as transparent as possible in all its dealings.

Government leaders, many of whom are likely to be from the previous Cabinet, should start behaving themselves. Malaysians are tired of seeing recalcitrant ministers who continually break Covid-19 SOPs and come up with stupid excuses and reasoning. This has to stop as those guilty should by now realise that social media is a potent weapon against them.

Ismail is in an unenviable position in choosing his Cabinet with a dearth of talent among his cohort of 113 MPs from which to choose. The cry from Malaysians for a much trimmed Cabinet is loud and clear. Will he be brave enough to heed this call?

If he does not, his government may even fail if he decides to maintain the bloated Cabinet: many of the deputy ministers are not needed.

Will he remove the so-called advisors and envoys with ministerial status – positions which are a mockery. We don’t need them now.

Most importantly, will Ismail move away from the frequent TV addresses that Muhyiddin was fond of making and start meeting the media in person?

Action on these matters will show that he is willing to do things where Muhyiddin failed. And it may work wonders and win some hearts over.

Unfortunately, there are some tried and failed ministers whom he will be forced to appoint. Honestly, it is not going to look good for the new government. The people are in an unforgiving mood right now as many are already saying we are back where we were before, calling the new government #Kerajaangagal2.

Many don’t expect him to bring in capable leaders from the opposition; the relationship between the two sides has become too toxic. Will he have the courage to appoint Umno leaders who have been in the government before but who lost at GE14, or choose a handful of technocrats who are needed to drive the nation?

He will be hard-pressed to do so. Serving MPs will not take it too kindly, and at the same time Ismail is answerable to party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi while also facing pressure from Bersatu for positions.

With all the negative comments trending on his appointment, Ismail can turn it around by going for a lean, smart and capable Cabinet. It is definitely not going to be a leadership that is whiter than white, but can it at least be white? - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.