ANY definitive comment on the new cabinet must wait on its performance.
However, there is more good than bad in its composition. It is not the Perfect 10, but under current political circumstances, it is not a bad shot at satisfying contending claims.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should be given credit if it is due. He has kept out those facing legal action. Do not forget this is one up on the Pakatan Harapan (PH) formed by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
There will be the contention that he should not have taken in anyone against whom a police report had been made. This is a difficult proposition the best response to which would be non-interference in police or MACC investigation.
The idea is not well embedded in Malaysia that prime ministers and ministers are not above the law. The Muhyiddin administration will be doing the country a world of good if it establishes this principle in its practice to check abuse.
Muhyiddin cleverly avoided having a deputy prime minister. There is, of course, no mention of this position in the Constitution. But Malaysia has had one by political convention.
It is good to break with convention in a sticky political situation. Perikatan Nasional (PN) is a new construct which would fall apart if there was an heir-presumptive. PH broke up over this matter, a commitment to which it is now so clear Dr Mahathir was never committed, and so very many were against.
Even from ordinary circumstances, things can turn into the extraordinary as conditions change. For the longest time, Malaysia’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman had a loyal and able deputy in Tun Razak Hussein, but following the race riots in May 1969, Tunku afterwards felt Tun Razak rode the wave of highly-charged Malay sentiment against him.
Tun Razak’s successor, Tun Hussein Onn, regretted appointing Dr Mahathir as the next man in, and there was an exchange in the kitchen when Tun Hussein’s wife scolded him for making the big mistake of letting Dr Mahathir succeed him. Tun Hussein apparently said: “I did not know he was going to be like this!”
Dr Mahathir himself has the distinction of falling out with all his successors, starting with the mistake of appointing Tun Musa Hitam not only as his deputy, but also, needlessly, acting prime minister every time he was abroad — which was not infrequent during the first Mahathir administration. It was such that it was called the 2M administration, to Dr Mahathir’s chagrin. In the end, Musa overstepped his mark and Dr Mahathir did him in.
We all know of Dr Mahathir’s disdain of and disgust for the two prime ministers after him who, one way or another, he put to the sword.
So, it is good that Muhyiddin shows who’s boss even though not having a deputy prime minister is more the outcome of the fluidity in the balance of forces in his coalition — as mentioned in his announcement of the cabinet line-up, Bersatu, Barisan Nasional, Gabungan Parti Sarawak and Pas.
Nevertheless, it would not have escaped notice who was first on the list in the cabinet line-up among the four senior ministers. Whoever chairs the cabinet in the prime minister’s absence will be a telling sign.
Whatever the prime minister’s state of health, the issue of succession cannot be avoided. This is where Malaysia is falling short. The risk of a political free-for-all. It has lost the political stability that had been the defining strength in attracting investment and economic activity.
Regaining it is a political issue not resolved by the cabinet alone, but if the ministers are able to work together, it would be the start of the long road to making people feel the government is working beyond the politicking that has been taking place which will no doubt continue.
Performance in and of the cabinet will be a measure of whether Malaysia is to be taken seriously, and who are the leaders likely to emerge, murky as that may now look.
It is good to have ministers for national unity, and for Sabah and Sarawak, but national unity is slipping down the slippery pole. It remains to be seen what difference the ministers would make.
Of the 31 ministers, 26 (83.9 per cent) are Malays. Including deputy ministers, Malays make up 75.4 per cent. Let us take a rest from the race and religion under threat narrative. What more do the Malays want?
Religion has been a wedge dividing the nation. In this regard, the appointment of Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, the Federal Territories mufti, is a big plus. I know him well. He is moderate, soft-spoken and a learned Muslim scholar who is mindful of the interests of people of other faiths. A good appointment. The cabinet must give him full support.
We are back to having two ministries for education with higher education reinstated. Malaysia has lost its edge in many respects caused largely by an education system that sustains and rewards mediocrity. Without a concentration on reform in education, the future is bleak. Senior Minister Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jinin should overhaul the whole system.
More immediately, the health of the people is an issue. Covid-19 is spreading like wildfire across the globe. There is a grave threat to life and health, and to life and health of the economy.
While the health authorities in Malaysia are doing a commendable job to monitor and contain the risk of Covid-19, the same absolutely cannot be said of top politicians who have not at all focused on the dangers facing the country while they were playing their political games.
Now that there is a cabinet and a health minister, it is the hope of the people that the good work that has been done so far will not be marred by political interference when it should instead be enhanced.
There must not be, for political reasons or whatever, any loss of transparency and accountability that have been exhibited by the professionals so far. The public must not be misled by the politics.
Part 2 tomorrow: Challenge of the Economy
The writer, a former NST group editor, returns to write on local and international political affairs. The views expressed are the writer’s personal views