PAS has come under fire for criticising Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s choice of deputy ministers after its mouthpiece Harakah Daily wrote an article claiming that Anwar “is paying back the coalition partners for their support” .
According to an article published today on the Harakah portal, Anwar is rewarding political allies with ministerial and deputy ministerial positions.
Anwar is said to be doing this to prevent the collapse of his newly formed government. The tweet in Malay, as translated above, can be found here:
Habuan-habuan berbentuk jawatan Menteri dan Timbalan Menteri sudah tentu terpaksa diagih-agihkan agar parti-parti berpuas hati dan kerajaan yang dibentuk tidak tumbang. #HDhttps://t.co/avBEBsGM1L pic.twitter.com/9kb1bc8svk
— HarakahDaily | الحركة (@harakahdailyHD) December 9, 2022
A direct English translation says, “Rewards in the form of Ministerial and Deputy Ministerial positions must of course be distributed so that the parties are satisfied and the government that is formed does not collapse.”
Netizens are upset with the Harakah and the PAS for making the remark. They blasted the organ and its owner with tweets that reminded the PAS of its time in a cabinet of 70 ministers, claiming that Prime Ministers rewarded coalition members for their support at the time.
Haeman@ghaeman says, “Kalau x bodoh apa eh ? 70 menteri dah lupa ke?. He means, “If not stupidity, what is this about? Have you forgotten the 70 ministers?”
For Jantzen @uzirazo3174, “Harap² ada lg jawatan Duta Timur Tengah bertaraf menteri…” The user says, “(The PAS) hopes there is still a position of Minister-level for the ‘Middle East Ambassador’ with reference to PAS leader Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang.
KroniRakyat @KroniRakyat asked if, “Mengata Kerajaan Perikatan Nasional dulu ke?” That is whether the comment on the new government reflects the government of the Perikatan Nasional.
The article in the Harakah portal is written by Datuk Iskandar A Samad, PAS Treasurer. He says the parties that make up the new government are like heaven and earth.
“Some are liberal, some are chauvinist, some are ultra and some are nationalistic. Before the General Election they attacked each other. It was not expected that they would ‘marry’ and start a ‘household’. Of course there was so much spit on the floor that had to be licked off.” — Dec 10, 2022
