SHOULD there be a Cabinet reshuffle, will Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim appoint a fluent Tamil speaking minister to his cabinet?
This was the question posed by Malaysia Nanban in view of Economy Minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli and Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad having lost their deputy president and vice-president posts during the recent PKR central leadership polls.
“To truly grasp the pulse and predicament of the Tamil-Indian community, one must be proficient in reading, writing and speaking the language,” stressed the currently Malaysia’s largest circulated Tamil daily.
“Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s priority should now be to leverage this chance to obtain cabinet representation for MCA and MIC rather than merely requesting for his party UMNO (to fill the void) or let the opportunity slide.”
As it is, Tamil Nanban regretted that the 15th Geneal Election (GE15) has gone down into history as the first time that both the MCA and MIC have no Cabinet representation.
“The UMNO president has made a clear promise in 2022 that MCA and MIC would have Cabinet representation (despite their dismal performance in the national polls),” recalled the Tamil daily.
“But this promise has turned out to be an empty promise. With the current situation, there’s a real concern that UMNO might abandon both parties come GE16 in 2027.”
For the record, MCA has two MPs in Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong (Ayer Hitam) and Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng (Tanjung Piai) while MIC has Tapah MP Datuk Seri M. Saravanan who is also the party’s deputy president.
Who fits the bill?
Commenting on the latest development, an observer of Indian politics hailed the call by Malaysia Nanban on grounds that “Indian MPs from PKR and DAP who were once vocal champions of their community’s struggle as opposition MPs are now conspicuously silent in the Madani government”.
At least, he observed that MIC’s Saravanan has taken concrete steps recently to appeal to PMX to bar government department/agencies from using the derogatory term of “illegal temple”.
“And he formally requested Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek to provide detailed matriculation data for Indian students,” the observer told FocusM on condition of anonymity.
“In stark contrast, Indian MPs from PKR and DAP – though experienced – have remained completely tight-lipped for reasons best known to them.
“Their silence prompts questions about whether their parties are restricting them from addressing community issues as they are already part of the ruling coalition today.” – May 27, 2025
