Cabinet bombshell - 2 new deputy ministers reject their posts

KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 -- Datuk Seri Tengku Azlan Abu Bakar, appointed Deputy Foreign Minister, and Datuk Anifah Aman, appointed Deputy Transport Minister, both rejected their Cabinet appointments.

Tengku Azlan said to The Star, in this morning's edition: "I have not moved up the ladder. I was a deputy minister for two terms and since I cannot go any further, I feel it is time to move on."

Anifah told Bernama last night: "I have already been a deputy minister for two terms and I feel it is time for me to make way for a younger person to hold this post."

The rejections are a big blow to Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was involved in choosing the Cabinet for the first time, as it is probably the first time in recent memory that ministers have rejected their appointments after they have been announced. However, the new Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad is quoted in today's NST as saying he was offered a minister's post in Abdullah's first cabinet in 2004 but he declined. He said he accepted a ministerial appointment this time round as he felt ready.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has told his new Cabinet they must make a public declaration of all their assets. This is seen by some as a move to take the wind out of the sails of the Opposition's refrain on corruption, a major election issue. In the past general election, the Democratic Action Party's candidates, when asked about their inexperience in running an administration, would respond consistently that it meant they were inexperienced in corruption.

More than anything else, these eight names show how March 8 has prodded Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to do what he was unwilling to do four years ago – go for a Cabinet that will be more acceptable to Malaysians.

In Zaid, the new minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Abdullah has gone for someone who sounds more like an Opposition politician than the Kota Baru Umno chief that he was. The job of reforming the country’s judiciary will be in his hands as the de facto Law Minister. Zaid will be sworn in as a senator today because he is not a member of parliament, not having contested the election.

In Shahrir, he has opted for an Umno leader who is not afraid to attack sacred cows or even tangle with Khairy Jamaludin. The Johor Baru MP will handle the Consumer and Domestic Affairs portfolio and will have to keep a lid on rising prices, a sensitive issue.
In Amirsham, he has plumped for a professional who won the respect of the market for the way he ran Maybank, Malaysia’s largest banking institution. He will be in charge of the Economic Planning Unit.

Perhaps the only question mark in the new line-up is Rural Development Minister Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib, the Selangor politician who forever will have an asterisk next to his name for trying to take $4 million out of Australia.

His inclusion is a reminder of one of the realities of politics – that change, however drastic, is only possible in this country if some concession is made to Umno.

By and large, Abdullah has gone for change.

He trimmed the number of ministries from 32 to 27 and didn’t appoint any parliamentary secretaries. Only 17 of the 32 ministers in the previous cabinet were retained. Some were given new portfolios like Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin, the new Minister of International Trade and Industry and Datuk Seri Rais Yatim, the Foreign Minister.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak is Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister. The Malaysian Insider reported yesterday that for the first time, Abdullah involved Najib in choosing the Cabinet. This will be read by the Umno faithful as a sign that Abdullah is considering handing over the reins mid-term.

These are some of the developments picked out by The Malaysian Insider:

Even winners were dropped

Those dropped were winners in the general election but they lacked that one ingredient necessary to be part of government – credibility on the ground.

Rafidah, the long-serving Minister of International Trade and Industry, a portfolio she has held for just over 20 years, has had difficulty shaking off the perception that the fiasco about the Approved Permits was her doing.

Ironically, Rafidah wrote a lengthy letter making a case for more women to be included in the Cabinet. She did not see the writing on the wall.

Tengku Adnan was implicated in the V. K. Lingam video scandal.

Datuk Jamaluddin Jarjis, Datuk Azmi Khalid and Datuk Radzi Sheik Ahmad paid for largely lacklustre performances in the previous Cabinet.

Security

The issue of tackling crime will now be the job of Datuk Syed Hamid Albar. The long-serving minister will also have to tackle the foreign illegal immigrant problem. He will head the Home Affairs and Internal Security Ministry. In the last Cabinet, Abdullah headed the Internal Security Ministry.

Promotion of the second liners

Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (PM’s Department), Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek (Information), Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor (Energy, Water and Telecommunications) and Datuk Zin Mohamed (Works) represent the new face of Umno.

Arguably, Ahmad Shabery will have his work cut out for him. He will have to overhaul the government’s information ministry and reach out to younger Malaysians who inhabit cyberspace. Zin Mohamed could become the most “popular’’ minister in Umno by virtue of being in charge of a ministry that dishes out infrastructure projects.

No room for parliamentary secretaries

In the last cabinet, there were 20 parliamentary secretaries. This time around, the job of going to parliament and taking questions from the Opposition will fall on the shoulders of ministers and deputy ministers. This is probably an admission by Abdullah that with 82 Opposition MPs in the House, the BN government can no longer treat Parliament lightly.

Ng Yen Yen gets a surprise

When her name was announced as Women, Family and Community Development Minister, there was a gasp among the press corp in the room. Traditionally this ministry goes to an Umno leader. Also Yen Yen is widely considered a lightweight. Like many others, the press had expected Datuk Ng Yen Yen to be appointed Health Minister. She still earns the record of becoming the first Chinese woman to become a minister in Malaysia. That portfolio fell to Datuk Liow Tiong Lai. Datuk Ong Tee Keat (Transport) and Datuk Ong Ka Chuan (Local Government and Housing).

His political career is over

Running through the Cabinet list, it is quite clear that this time around, Abdullah had to leave aside sentiment and go with what he believed Malaysians wanted. That is why Khairy Jamaludin’s name is missing from the line-up. Though Khairy is the number two in Umno Youth, it would have been disastrous for the son-in-law to have been given any position in government, given the anger against him within Umno. Party members blame him for the poor showing in the polls, arguing that he had a hand in the selection of candidates. They also resent his quick ascent up the political ladder.

The Insider
Malaysian