'Tok Mat made foreign minister to weaken his position in Umno'

 

Mohamad Hasan has been reassigned as foreign minister in the recent cabinet reshuffle to weaken his position in Umno, a Bersatu leader has alleged.

According to Bersatu supreme council member Wan Saiful Wan Jan, the new role would require the Umno deputy president to be away from the country often, thus allowing Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to strengthen his position.

"This is how (Prime Minister) Anwar (Ibrahim) helps Zahid. To stem Mohamad’s rise, Anwar made him the foreign minister, which is a role important to the country, but not strategic to an individual who's just a step away from challenging Zahid's position as the Umno chief.

"The Foreign Ministry is not strategic for Tok Mat (Mohamad) as he has to be overseas for long periods, and this will provide room for Zahid to strengthen support within the party," Wan Saiful, who is also Tasek Gelugor MP, said in a statement today.

In announcing the reshuffle, Anwar said Mohamad (above) will helm the Foreign Ministry, replacing Zambry Abdul Kadir. The latter will be taking over the Higher Education Ministry from Mohamed Khaled Nordin, who will now oversee the defence portfolio.

Bersatu supreme council member Wan Saiful Wan Jan

Elaborating, Wan Saiful claimed that Mohamad's "value" in Umno will go down under the Foreign Ministry as there are hardly any agencies under the ministry to interact with the party grassroots.

"This means that although Mohamad is doing an important service to the country, his position in Umno is being weakened by Zahid.

"Anwar is making the moves to weaken Zahid's rivals because the latter may be growing insecure of his position."

'No MPs competent enough'

Meanwhile, Wan Saiful claimed that Anwar has appointed Employees Provident Fund (EPF) CEO Amir Hamzah Azizan as the second minister as the premier had no faith in his MPs.

"Anwar realises that he's not a competent finance minister. Hence, he has appointed a corporate figure as the second finance minister.

"This shows how much confidence Anwar has in his MPs. Among all the Dewan Rakyat members, and party members who can be made senators, Anwar seems to have found no one competent enough to become second finance minister.

"Thus, he had to find a competent 'outsider' for the job," Wan Saiful alleged.

Amir Hamzah Azizan

Amir Hamzah was earlier today sworn in as a senator to enable him to take up the job.

Wan Saiful then questioned the reason behind the appointment of Titiwangsa MP Johari Abdul Ghani as the plantation and commodities minister, when he could have been made the second finance minister instead.

"I think Anwar is worried that if Johari becomes the second finance minister, he would 'outshine' the former.

"An insecure person like Anwar will never appoint anyone who can be deemed as a rival to a high position," claimed Wan Saiful.

The appointment sees Johari's making a comeback to the cabinet after a five-year hiatus.

He last served as finance minister II under the BN administration under former premier Najib Abdul Razak from June 2016, until the collapse of BN rule in May 2018.

Meanwhile, Khaled, when met by the media, expressed surprise at Anwar's decision to appoint him as defence minister.

"I don't want to comment because I'm still surprised," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.