(Bloomberg) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ousted Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz and thinned his cabinet in an attempt to woo back voters after the ruling coalition's worst ever election showing.
Muhyiddin Yassin, former agriculture minister, replaces Rafidah, a cabinet member since 1977, Abdullah, 68, said today at his office in Putrajaya, outside Kuala Lumpur. He retained Najib Razak as deputy premier and defense minister.
Abdullah, facing demands to step down from party members including former Premier Mahathir Mohamad, is bringing in fresh blood to rebuild his National Front coalition and win back investor confidence. While the reshuffle may muffle some critics, Abdullah reiterated today he has his party's support and pledged to continue development projects started in his first term.
``People asked for change, they're getting some,'' said Jason Lee, who helps oversee $1.4 billion at JMF Asset Management in Kuala Lumpur. ``There are some fresh faces. It's not revolutionary.''
Abdullah slashed the cabinet to 68 members from 90, including deputy ministers, to shrink a team seen by some analysts as bloated and unmanageable. More than half of the lineup are new faces, the prime minister told reporters.
The new cabinet may still need to focus on courting the ethnic minorities that swung to the opposition on March 8, and show it's serious about tackling graft, some analysts said.
`Back to Basics'
``The ruling party needs to go back to basics and get back in touch with the grassroots,'' said Mary Magdaline Pereira, associate professor of policy studies at the University Teknologi Mara in Selangor, Malaysia. ``One of the first things people will look for is whether the cabinet is clean and credible.''
Abdullah retained the post of finance minister, and reappointed Nor Mohamed Yakcop as second finance minister. The premier also merged the Home and Internal Security ministries, leaving the combined portfolio to Syed Hamid Albar, who previously ran the foreign ministry. Abdullah was formerly also internal security minister.
The cabinet is due to be sworn in tomorrow.
Abdullah is surrounding himself with a more loyal team as he fends off demands to quit, some analysts said. His approval rating has slumped since a 2004 landslide election victory, and he has said ministries haven't rolled out policies fast enough.
``Most of the new faces are strong supporters of Abdullah, so he can have full confidence in his cabinet,'' said Mohamed Mustafa Ishak, professor of politics at Universiti Utara Malaysia. ``He has most of his men in the cabinet now.''
Banker Joins
An opposition coalition led by former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim won five of 12 contested states on March 8 and ended the two-thirds parliamentary majority held by the National Front since 1974. The stock market plunged nearly 10 percent following the vote.
Abdullah named Amirsham Aziz, outgoing chief executive officer of Malayan Banking Bhd., the nation's largest lender, as head of the Economic Planning Unit, a government division that devises development projects and assesses their effectiveness.
Ethnic Chinese and Indians, who comprise a third of Malaysia's 27 million population, abandoned Abdullah's coalition for the three-party opposition. Anwar said minority rights were being eroded under Abdullah and marginalized Malays weren't benefiting from a policy designed to make them richer.
Samy's Replacement
Mohd Zin Mohamed today replaced former Works Minister Samy Vellu, the leader of Malaysia's largest ethnic Indian party. Samy has been criticized for not doing enough to protect ethnic Indian rights, and lost the parliamentary seat he held for more than three decades.
Malaysia's race-based program, known as the New Economic Policy, gives ethnic Malays special rights to housing, education, and government contracts.
Samy, head of the Malaysian Indian Congress, and Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin, along with six deputy ministers lost their parliamentary seats March 8.
Rafidah has been International Trade and Industry Minister from 1987, and was responsible for starting free trade talks with the United States, Japan and Pakistan.
Still, she oversaw a 37-year-old program that allocated car import permits to help ethnic Malay businessmen enter the industry. Former Prime Minister Mahathir was among those who have said the program wasn't transparent.
Mustapa Mohamed, Malaysia's second finance minister from 1998 to 1999, replaces Muhyiddin as agriculture minister. Rais Yatim, formerly the culture, arts and heritage minister, becomes the new foreign minister. Rais was part of a ruling party faction that challenged Mahathir's leadership in the 1980s.
By En-Lai Yeoh and Manirajan Ramasamy
Posted by Raja Petra
18 March 2008
Malaysia Today
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