Talk of Cabinet reshuffle shows parties’ focus on power, says analyst

Members of the Pakatan Harapan Cabinet, together with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Talk of reshuffling the Cabinet just six months after it was formed shows that political parties are more interested in ministerial and government positions than fighting for the people, a political analyst says.

Ahmad Atory Hussain said it had only been several weeks since former Umno heavyweight Mustapa Mohamed joined PPBM, but already people in Kelantan were lobbying for him to be appointed a minister.

“Similarly with PKR; since the formation of the Cabinet, it is said they have been unhappy with the party’s lack of adequate presence in the Cabinet.

“Let us ask them (all political parties) this question, has their political struggle become one that is focused on chasing after ministerial positions or fighting for the people?

“It is very obvious that they are presently more interested in position and power than fighting for the people. For PKR, if they are still talking about wanting to be part of the Cabinet, they have deviated from the party’s struggle,” he told FMT.

Ahmad Atory was referring to a report in the Straits Times which quoted Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad as saying he was open to reshuffling his Cabinet following the PKR elections.

Since the formation of the Cabinet post-May 9 polls, critics have viewed the prime minister as unfair for giving the fewest ministerial posts to PKR, although the party won the most parliamentary seats in the 14th general election.

Talk has also surfaced that if incumbent PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali does not retain the post, it could affect his position in the Cabinet.

But Ahmad Atory said this was unlikely to happen as Mahathir had seldom appointed ministers simply based on their party positions.

“If you recall, when Daim Zainuddin was appointed finance minister (during Mahathir’s first stint as prime minister), he did not hold any party position, not even that of division chief. I remember him saying that he didn’t want to be involved in the bickering of politicians.

“If Mahathir wants to appoint someone, he doesn’t care if you hold a party position. What is important for him is whether you can do work.”

Talk of a Cabinet reshuffle has also cropped up due to the unimpressive performance of several ministers.

Ahmad Atory said it was unlikely that a reshuffle would happen despite speculation that Education Minister Maszlee
Malik and Rural and Regional Development Minister Rina Harun could be dropped if this occurs.

“There cannot be any removal of ministers who are from PPBM as there are not many of them in the Cabinet.

“Should this happen, those who voted for them will be angry. This will make the party members very angry too and result in the party losing support. As it is, PPBM is not very strong.”

Ahmad Atory added that it was too early for a Cabinet reshuffle as it normally takes about a year to evaluate an individual’s performance.

“If a Cabinet reshuffle does happen, though, it should not be to remove people but maybe to reshuffle their portfolios,” he said.

Faisal S Hazis, an associate professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, agreed that when Mahathir appointed Azmin as economic affairs minister, he had sent a message that he did not appoint ministers based on their party positions.

“(Knowing that their party election was coming up), he appointed Azmin, and it was way before he appointed anyone else as Cabinet member.

“That was Mahathir’s way of saying that he was the prime minister and it was his prerogative as to whom he wanted to appoint as a minister.

“He also said that PKR could submit names, but whether or not he accepts them is up to him. This shows that he is not dependent on the PKR polls results for who emerges as the party’s deputy president,” Faisal said when contacted.

Adding that Azmin had been picked by Mahathir himself, he said as long as Mahathir remained prime minister, Azmin’s position was secure.

Universiti Utara Malaysia’s Kamarul Zaman Yusoff said it was the tradition of the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government to reshuffle the Cabinet after party elections, especially of Umno, to reflect changes in influence of, and support for, political leaders.

“The Pakatan Harapan government may or may not want to continue with this tradition as there is no problem with it.

“Just that with the PKR elections, if unofficial results are confirmed, then there’s no significant change in the composition of PKR leaders who hold government posts other than the deputy prime minister (Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail) who will no longer be PKR president, and deputy minister Fuziah Salleh, who lost the contest for the women chief’s post.

“All others who hold government posts and contested, won, while Saifuddin Nasution didn’t contest.”

He added that there were other MPs who performed well in the PKR elections, especially Nurul Izzah Anwar who retained her post as vice-president. Abdullah Sani, Mansor Othman and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad were elected as Supreme Council members, he added.

“So if there needs to be a reshuffle in the Cabinet, it is they who need to be rewarded, but the question is who is going to make way for them?

“As it is, a reshuffle involving PKR is not necessary, but if there needs to be one, it will have to involve the exchange
of Wan Azizah for Anwar (Ibrahim), otherwise just maintain the status quo for now.” -FMT