KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 — The Unity Government, formed with the support of several political parties, certainly took into account the views and suggestions of the parties involved in deciding its cabinet line-up, according to political analysts.
A senior lecturer at the Perdana Centre of the Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics (RFTI), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Dr Mazlan Ali said that the Unity Government was not formed by Pakatan Harapan (PH) alone, but also on the advice of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al -Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.
“The success of this government is because of the support by UMNO and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS). We see that the members of the Cabinet are clearly those who are chosen by the parties in the Unity Government.
“For example, the ministers from UMNO are certainly chosen by UMNO president (Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi). Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim cannot choose, he has to accept proposals from the parties participating in the Unity Government,” he told Bernama.
According to him, the cabinet line-up of the Unity Government announced by Anwar yesterday can be described as a compact one entrusted with the responsibility of restoring the people’s confidence.
“For now, Anwar needs to focus on how to convince the people that this Cabinet can work and can carry out its mission to improve the country and also the economic situation, especially in attracting investors and so on,” he said.
Sharing Mazlan’s views is a political analyst and senior lecturer from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Prof Datuk Dr Ismail Sualman.
He said the proposed establishment of a Unity Government by Al-Sultan Abdullah was to create political stability and ensure that the country’s development would not be hampered.
“In terms of qualifications, I think they (appointed cabinet members) are all qualified to hold their respective portfolios based on their qualifications and expertise.
“The Prime Minister has also taken a bold approach by having new faces to hold critical positions such as that of Minister of Education and Minister of Religious Affairs,” he said.
Yesterday, the prime minister announced his 28-member cabinet line-up consisting of PH, Barisan Nasional, GPS and Gagasan Rakyat Sabah.
The Cabinet line-up marked a new history for Malaysia as it is for the first time that two Deputy Prime Ministers were appointed, with one from Sarawak.
