Cabinet appointments: Don't put pressure on PM, say lawmakers

 

Two lawmakers have urged other parties not to put pressure on Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob regarding the composition of his cabinet.

Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said under the Federal Constitution, the composition of the cabinet was the prerogative of the prime minister.

Therefore, Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin's status in the cabinet, said Khairy, will be decided by Ismail Sabri in due course and should be respected by all.

"There is no need for other parties to put pressure on the prime minister. Let the appointment of the minister be decided by the prime minister only," he said, according to Utusan Malaysia.

Zuraida, who is the plantation industries and commodities minister, yesterday announced she was quitting Bersatu and would be joining Parti Bangsa Malaysia.

Following this, Bersatu leaders immediately laid claim to the portfolio publicly. Party information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan said on Facebook yesterday that Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin will be nominating a replacement for Zuraida.

Zuraida Kamaruddin

Khairy and Ismail Sabri are both from Umno.

Meanwhile, Senator Muhammad Zahid Md Arip, a former Bersatu supreme council member, said in a statement that while parties within the government may discuss Zuraida's position with Ismail Sabri, cabinet appointments were the prime minister's sole prerogative.

"I urge everyone not to fish in troubled waters, by pressuring the prime minister to drop (Zuraida) and appoint someone else.

"Parties that represent the government may discuss with the prime minister, but in the formation and arrangement of the cabinet, it is the right of the prime minister that has to be respected by all parties," he said. - Mkini