LETTER | Cabinet reshuffle: A disappointing plot twist

LETTER | Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reshuffled his cabinet line-up not long after the unity government organised its first-anniversary programme.

The past year of Anwar’s administration was certainly turbulent as the people, thirsting for reforms, put a close magnifying lens on its performance. A cabinet reshuffle now could be timely to restore its much-dented image.

However, the new line-up announced today could not achieve the above purpose.

The two good things about the new line-up are the replacement for Dr Zaliha Mustafa and V Sivakumar from their respective portfolios.

Zaliha was moved into the Prime Minister’s Department to manage Federal Territories while Sivakumar was dropped from the cabinet.

Zaliha’s one year as the health minister had not yielded any positive results, with the plight of the contract medical personnel persisting and the health risk of youths being exposed to tobacco and nicotine products still high.

Her successor Dzulkefly Ahmad is expected to do a better job with his 22-month experience in the previous Pakatan Harapan administration led by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Meanwhile, Sivakumar was previously investigated for alleged corruption in recruiting foreign workers. Dropping him from the cabinet could show the government’s will in eradicating graft.

Nevertheless, the core problem within the unity government - Umno - is still not dealt with.

All the Umno ministers such as Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Mohamad Hasan and Mohamed Khaled Nordin were retained in the line-up, with some of them being transferred to other portfolios.

This could be a move to please them by not taking their power away, while showing the public that Anwar is doing something to address the widespread criticisms they faced.

Nonetheless, the people are not foolish. Merely transferring them to other portfolios would not convince the people about their performance.

Moreover, with Zahid still in the picture, Umno will continue being the unity government’s political liability.

Anwar is still scared to draw the lines between Harapan and Umno even when its benefits outweigh the risks.

Stop pandering to Umno

With more Perikatan Nasional leaders expected to switch allegiance and Anwar’s goodwill towards East Malaysian parties, Harapan may not face that big of a problem if Umno ditches them.

The prime minister also made some significant changes in the Finance Ministry, with a new second finance minister being introduced and former deputy education minister Lim Hui Ying replacing Steven Sim as deputy finance minister.

However, it is unnecessary to have a second finance minister especially when Anwar still refuses to let go of the position.

The newly appointed second finance minister would just be a puppet to crackdown criticisms on Anwar holding conflicting portfolios, while the core issue of conflict of interest remains unaddressed.

Moreover, the government now needs to fork out extra money to pay the second finance minister.

Another questionable change to the cabinet is the breaking down of the Communications and Digital Ministry into two different ministries - with two ministers being appointed.

Gobind Singh Deo’s return as the digital minister could be because of his popularity during Harapan’s first administration. Anwar could also make Fahmi Fadzil more focused on his job as the official government’s spokesperson.

Anwar could have just replaced Fahmi with Gobind, while keeping Fahmi as the government’s spokesperson.

This could cut down the confusion of separating the ministries as they both have the same job scope, while saving the government’s expenses to pay yet another new minister.

The new cabinet line-up would have two peaceful years to win the people’s trust before the election waves strike again in 2026.

All of them must work hard or risk losing the chance to govern Malaysia for a second term.

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