What did Dr M mean by 'no room for Anwar', asks Ramasamy
Penang Deputy Chief Minister (II) P Ramasamy said he is keen to know what message Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammed was trying to impart when he said that there was no room for PKR president Anwar Ibrahim in the cabinet.
Calling on the prime minister to respect the Pakatan Harapan succession plan under which Anwar is Mahathir's designated successor, he asked, "Is it because there aren't any vacancies in the cabinet or is it because Mahathir thinks that Anwar does not deserve a minister’s position at least for the time being?"
"Or is it because Anwar is destined for the post of prime minister when Mahathir relinquishes his position?" he asked in a statement today.
Ramasamy said it was strange that Mahathir had come out with this remark when Anwar had never requested for a minister’s post in the first place.
"Are there sinister forces out to derail the succession plan that was agreed upon by the Harapan component parties before the last general election? Mahathir has on countless occasions said that Anwar would succeed him. Is there a change of plan?"
Ramasamy said that while Mahathir might be clear that Anwar was the right person to succeed him, there were "now and then rumours" that give uncertainty whether Anwar would really succeed Mahathir.
"The leadership made a mistake in not stipulating a time frame for Mahathir to hand over power," he said, adding that even without a time frame it was never intended that Mahathir would stay in power for one full term.
"Is it really fair to keep Anwar waiting on the sidelines while time is taken for the hand over of power? What is really preventing Mahathir from handing over power?"
Ramasamy expressed his fears that Umno and PAS might act as spoilers to the succession plan given the chance.
"They might not really be interested in propping up Mahathir or ensuring that Anwar remains on the sidelines but are more keen to destabilise the government to take over power," he said.
Ramasamy, who is Perai assemblyperson, said that talk of inviting Umno leaders into the fold of Bersatu might not be good for Harapan solidarity.
"I am thankful to Mahathir for having provided crucial leadership for the great election victory against BN but let’s not forget the great sacrifice of Anwar for bringing about political reformasi that made the election victory possible."
"Let us also not forget the sacrifice made by DAP leaders in forging the Harapan coalition to take on BN. Let us stay committed to what was agreed upon to prevent BN from coming back to power," said Ramasamy.
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kaytee notes:
The Malaysian cabinet is notorious for having umpteen Ministers in the PM' Department. Malaysian politics has been ruled by coalitions since 1955, thus every component party wanted (still does) its share of the victory booty in terms of ministers or deputy ministers. Thus the ministers in the PM's Department has been an avenue to dole out ministerial positions when there really wasn't an everyday need for such a portfolio, unless there arose a special high level task to be dealt with outside of normal ministerial responsibility.
In May 2018, Mahathir was given carte blanche to appoint his own cabinet without consultation with Pakatan component parties, and he did so to the chagrin of major component parties like PKR and DAP who respectively won 48 and 42 federal seats, whilst Pribumi and Amanah respectively won 12 and 11.
Mahathir grabbed the lion's share federally and state-wise without so much as by-your leave to PKR and DAP. To add insult to injury to PKR, the component party which won four times as many as Pribumi, he also without any consultation plucked Azmin Ali from the latter's MB position of Selangor to appoint him as the minister for a NEW Economics Ministry.
Every mother's son knew he did two things with that ugly dictatorial blow: (i) insult and further neutralise Anwar Ibrahim by making his PKR rival a powerful minister and (ii) enervate the powerful Finance Minister (Lim Guan Eng) by clipping his rightful ministerial portfolios of GLCs, which he wants Azmin Ali to look after and to "make more Malay billionaires" though mind you, it won't be the hoi polloi Melayu who would be blessed but only his cronies.
Coming to the present, he could have easily, justifiably and rightfully appoint Anwar as the new (options):
(1) DPM, with Wan Azizah remaining as the Minister of Women, Family & Community Development (or alternatively, if Wan Azizah wants to leave the cabinet of her own free will, promote Hannah Yeoh to full Minister of same ministry, with even Nurul Izzah as the new deputy), or
(1) DPM, with Wan Azizah remaining as the Minister of Women, Family & Community Development (or alternatively, if Wan Azizah wants to leave the cabinet of her own free will, promote Hannah Yeoh to full Minister of same ministry, with even Nurul Izzah as the new deputy), or
(2) Education Minister - need I even elaborate here why Maszlee is unqualified to be the Education Minister - send Bapak Kasut Hitam back to Academia to be President of IIUM from which he was most reluctant (originally) to resign from, or
(3) Rural Development Minister, which has laid fallow since Rina Harun has taken over (even much to her own astonishment, thus she should be sent packing like Maszlee), or
(4) Econs Minister and demote a useless Azmin Ali who is not only ministerially incompetent but also tainted by his extra curricular indulgences, or worse comes to the worse,
(5) Minister with Special Functions (same as Minister in PM's Department) - in my personal opinion I believe the most distinguished Ministers with Special Functions were Tun Ghazali Shafie (1970-72) and Richard Ho Ung Hun (1977-78), or
(6) just as a Minister in the PM's Department.
The fact that Mahathir could create a new ministry (of Economics) to meet his sinister objectives has been a case in point, thus showing his kerbau about no more room in cabinet for Anwar. Mahathir just wants to keep Anwar at bay and preferably permanently OUT.
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