MANY were surprised over the composition of Anwar’s first cabinet last December. It could certainly not be called a cabinet of meritocracy.
It could certainly not be called a cabinet filled with talent. It could certainly not be called a cabinet of competence. It’s even doubtful the cabinet complies with the Madani (civil government) test: sustainability, prosperity, innovation, respect, trust and compassion.
This is certainly the case when some ministers don’t bother to turn up for cabinet meetings while others are not even on speaking terms.
Initially, many made the excuse that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Cabinet was the product of a ‘unity government’, hence had to accommodate different stakeholders with different ideologies.
Many buried their heads in the sand with the cabinet was quickly displaying shallowness and even incompetence. Many were angry when these weaknesses were even pointed out, claiming that the government should be beyond criticism for the greater good.
We found a number of ministers finding great difficulty in making the transition from opposition MPs to ministers. We hoped they would settle down and progress up the learning curve very quickly.
We saw the cheap stunts. Giving free sanitary pads to elite civil servants while many mothers in the nation couldn’t even afford to buy milk for their infants.
We saw Menu Ramlah hurting food stall operators. We saw the Economy Minister call in his predecessor for assistance and advice.
Still everyone said “bagi Anwar masa” (give Anwar more time).
Cabinet reshuffle imminent
If we fast forward to Anwar’s visit to Saudi Arabia, many are still asking why did he go there for. A courtesy call to the head of the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation)?
Then the 19 MOUs (memorandum of understandings) signed in China, supposedly bringing RM170 bil investment to Malaysia. Upon closer examination, most of these MOUs just didn’t stack up.
Then we have the defector Law Minister providing information to incarcerated former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s defence counsel to assist in his royal pardon. Now we are seeing rumblings of abuse of power, corruption, and self-centered actions in a number of pockets of the administration.
These are just some of the examples that many of you may be aware of and what others have written in detail about.
The bottom line here is that Anwar must have an immediate cabinet reshuffle or risk a terrible result in the coming state elections. The future of the Anwar administration depends upon urgent change in his cabinet line-up.
Not acting may cost Anwar dearly.
The changes that need to be made concern a number of ministers. For example, we have two Deputy Prime Ministers, hence it might be best for Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to take leave of absence until he clears his court cases.
That would suck away all the oxygen from the Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the coming elections.
The three economics-based ministries need a big re-organising. At least one minister could be cut here with the ministry broken up and placed into others. There is already a large ensemble of economic advisors already. No need to overlap here.
People are still suffering economically and finding it difficult to make ends meet yet the Anwar Cabinet is not coming up with the solutions.
The reality is that people are not going to vote on race and religion this coming election. They are going to vote on their difficulties of paying for food and housing. It won’t be the ‘green wave’ phenomenon but a ‘rising cost of living’ revolt.
There are many ministers that need to be replaced. Some of them senior ones. Many know who they are.
The heart of the matter is if there is no urgent cabinet reshuffle, the Anwar administration will become impotent. Malaysians need strong leadership in difficult times. – April 17, 2023
Australia-born Murray Hunter has been involved in Asia-Pacific business for the last 40 years as an entrepreneur, consultant, academic and researcher. He was previously an associate professor at the Universiti Malaya Perlis.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main pic credit: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Facebook
