AS expected, Dr Maszlee Malik’s resignation as education minister has got the rumour mills going on overdrive.
Like a raging bushfire, speculation is rife as to who will be the next to go. This Leader will not speculate. After all, it is not the business of Leaders to do so. Plus, it is not possible to be concrete about an abstraction.
Cabinet reshuffle happens. If it does, expect the disappointed to be more than the appointed. Rather than speculating on the possible or probable, we seek to offer a view.
First, a word on cabinet resignation. Not all weaknesses of ministers warrant resignation. If it were so, we will have an avalanche of them.
Not all ministers come armed with ministerial skills. Parties and politics do not equip them with such prowess. Besides, there isn’t a place on earth where these are taught.
It must be learned at the school of hard knocks. Some do well, though, after some disorientation. Yet others discover rather quickly that they are square pegs in round holes.
Though not in Malaysia, it must be said as quickly. Like everybody else, ministers must be given a chance to improve. Perhaps a different portfolio may help. If all else fails, then he must go. This is not to excuse any incompetence. Prowess is equally important in politics.
Dropping a minister once in a while may do the cabinet system of governance some good.
Jitters down the spines of ministers do often flush out mediocrity.
A minister’s post is not permanent. The only way to make it last for the five-year term is to perform.
But a new minister must not come in to undo what has gone before. Or bring change for the sake of change. Change must have a basis.
Consider the case of the Education Ministry. For long the national education policy has been seen to shift with what the new minister fancies.
This isn’t peculiar to the Pakatan Harapan government. Others who sat on the swivel chair of the minister before have changed this and that as their fresh enthusiasm dictated.
This is certainly not the way forward. Change if we must, but not without discussing with the experts in the ministry. And that, too, must be change that is guided by the philosophy of the national education policy.
Otherwise we will be taking our five million students on a path to nowhere. What is true of the Education Ministry is true also of other ministries.
The prime minister sometimes may want to plant new seeds in the cabinet. Sometimes some old oaks. Just to give the cabinet a good mixture of innocence and experience.
Successful politics is a combination of this. In a parliamentary system such as ours, the prime minister has the prerogative to decide.
Malaysian coalition politics will no doubt shape the final outcome. The more partners, the more the inputs. But such inputs are for the prime minister to seek. Not for others to demand to give them. After all, the prime minister as the leader of the government is responsible for the policies and decisions it takes.
Will there be a reshuffle? If it happens, it won’t be the last.