ADUN SPEAKS | Govt of compromise: Choice between stability and instability

ADUN SPEAKS | The unity government’s cabinet line-up might not be to the satisfaction of all parties. But under the present circumstances, this will be the cabinet that we must put up with.

It is a choice between political stability and instability. It is a choice between disengaging from venomous politics and politics of confrontation.

The cabinet consists of Pakatan Harapan (15), BN/Umno (6), GPS (5), and GRS (1). There are two deputy prime ministers, one for Umno and one for GPS.

It is certainly not the cabinet of Harapan but formed on the basis of a unity government.

In a way, the political representation from Sarawak and Sabah is balanced. Although the appointment of one or two individuals might be questionable.

Umno is clearly the main beneficiary of the unity government. Without the support of Umno, Harapan would not have formed the government.

Nobody in their wildest dreams could have imagined the coming together of Umno and Harapan in a historic compromise. It gives credence to a political cliche that politics is the art of possible.

However, the earlier assurances of not including those with court cases seem not to have been adhered to.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was given the post of deputy prime minister. I think Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had no choice but to give in to this demand from Umno.

Without the provision of such a post, there was no way the unity government could have elicited the cooperation of Umno. It seems a small price to pay for political stability.

Political decision-making is ultimately about making compromises under extenuating circumstances. This was what Anwar did. He might have detractors on this matter.

Harapan component party DAP won 40 parliamentary seats. But unfortunately, the party was only given four cabinet posts.

The post of Human Resources minister was given to V Sivakumar, a DAP member from Perak. Despite the number of Indian MPs in Harapan, Indians seem underrepresented in the cabinet. The community might be upset with this.

Hopefully, Anwar can rectify this by giving other appointments to Indian representatives from Harapan. It should not be forgotten that the Indian support for Harapan was overwhelming in the recent GE15.

There may be criticisms that cabinet appointments are not balanced and somewhat skewed. I don’t think there will be a perfect cabinet composition.

Unlike a political coalition or political party, a unity government based on the conglomeration of interests had to carefully weigh the interests of all parties before arriving at a decision on the composition of the cabinet.

It is not that those named as ministers will remain untouched for the next five years or so.

Their performance in the service of the people will determine their longevity in their respective ministries. If they lack performance, they can be replaced by the prime minister of the day.

The cabinet line-up might not be perfect, but it is something that we have to start off with.

P RAMASAMY is the Perai assemblyperson and Penang deputy chief minister II.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.