The country is inundated with rumous and speculations about the first Najib Cabinet which may be unveiled tomorrow.
According to one report, as many as 10 Umno Cabinet Ministers may be dropped and among those named in this category are Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad, who has already tendered his resignation, and Second Finance Minister Datuk Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, Tourism Minister Datuk Azalina Othman, Energy, Water and communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique, Rural and Regional Development Minister Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khalid Nordin and Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Chik.
The Najib Cabinet is expected to be leaner than the Abdullah Cabinet.
MCA is reported to be demanding that a new post of a Chinese Deputy Prime Minister be created while MIC wants to have a second Cabinet appointment.
The first Abdullah Cabinet appointed after the Barisan Nasional landslide general election victory in March 2004 was a great disappointment – laying the seeds of the failure and downfall of the Abdullah premiership.
In fact, it did not take long before former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad condemned and dismissed the Abdullah Cabinet as a “half-past six” Cabinet – although the majority of the Abdullah Ministers were holdovers from Mahathir’s Cabinet. (I often wonder whether Mahathir was aware that he had been a Prime Minister of a half-past six Cabinet for most of his 22 years of premiership.)
Will the first Najib Cabinet meet the same fate of the first Abdullah Cabinet – although not dismissed by Mahathir as a “half-past six Cabinet” with Mahathir now ensconced in his new position as eminence grise or even Empress Dowager Cixi “ruling from behind the curtain” in Najib’s premiership but by the Malaysian people?
The new Najib Cabinet must pass the test of a clean slate of Ministers which meets the three Najib benchmarks of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.”
It is shocking that two Cabinet Ministers dropped by Abdullah in his second Cabinet after the 2004 general election are “hot favourites” to be appointed into the Najib Cabinet.
How can Najib convince Malaysians that his first Cabinet is a clean one when he could appoint as Ministers persons whom Abdullah had thrown out of the Cabinet because of their failure to pass Abdullah’s integrity test?
The Najib Cabinet will come under stringent scrutiny as to whether it would pass the first Najib slogan of “1Malaysia”.
Will the Cabinet be fully representative of “1Malaysia” where important Cabinet portfolios are fairly allocated to all ethnic groups – and not as in the past, where Umno political hegemony denied to all other racial groups, whether Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans, fair allocation of important Cabinet portfolios?
Will Najib breathe meaning into his “1Malaysia” slogan by ensuring that important Cabinet posts such as Finance, Education, International Trade and Commerce, Home, Defence and Information are allocated to non-Umno Ministers, whether Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans?
If the Najib Cabinet is to pass the test of his second slogan “People First”, he must slash the 33-Minister Cabinet of Abdullah by at least one third to be really lean, effective and productive.
Najib will lose all credibility to talk about “People First” if he continues to put political interests above national interests by having a bloated Cabinet with many Cabinet Ministers appointed not because of their competence or capability but just to “distribute spoils of office” among Barisan Nasional leaders.
Najib’s third slogan of “Performance Now” could not have started on a worse footing, when his announcement of the “immediate release” of two Hindraf leaders, V.Ganabatirau and R. Kengadharan under Internal Security Act detention on Friday night was only executed 46 hours later on Sunday evening.
If the Prime Minister’s writ is not honoured and implemented immediately by the bureaucracy, how can Malaysians have faith and confidence to expect greater efficiency and productivity on the part of the rest of the Najib Cabinet?
#1 by taiking on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 4:56 pm
Dear najib,
I offer myself to be appointed to the post of Minister of Something. I may not be a MP but the backdoor is always there for everyone to use. Yeah MoS sounds great and any ministerial post is good money.
#2 by k1980 on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 5:02 pm
Actually he means “1 Malaysia for me alone. People First to be conned. Performance Now to start fooling the rakyat.”
#3 by Justitia on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 5:05 pm
TDM as Empress Dowager. What an utterly gloomy, depressing thought! Poor M’sia, as we know how the history for that episode ends. He is more the Puppeteer pulling the strings and have the “brainless” UMNO people dance to his music and tune.
The good news is that he is old and this is probably his last gig before he goes and meets his Maker. Let’s hope this is soon so that damage is limited.
#4 by ekompute on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 5:11 pm
On Cause and Effect: “The first Abdullah Cabinet appointed after the Barisan Nasional landslide general election victory in March 2004 was a great disappointment – laying the seeds of the failure and downfall of the Abdullah premiership.”
I disagree with the above statement because the seed of Abdullah’s failure lies squarely on his suitability to carry out the functions of the premiership. As Plato pointed out, it is a sad fact that politicians need no qualifications, unlike doctors, engineers, and many other trades. It is crystal clear to everyone that Abdullah does not know his job and his choice of cabinet is merely a manifestation of that incompetence. I do not think that Najib will do any better, so if he allows Mahathir to be his puppeteer, he would be wise indeed! At least there is someone else to blame if anything goes wrong, LOL.
#5 by monsterball on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 5:13 pm
I offer as Minister of Nothing.
From nothing…make it to something.
From no problems…create fear…,.provoke…thus become something.
From nothing in pockets….all will get something.
#6 by Winston on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 5:29 pm
(I often wonder whether Mahathir was aware that he had been a Prime Minister of a half-past six Cabinet for most of his 22 years of premiership.)
Uncle Lim, that’s a really good one!!
#7 by IbnAbdHalim on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 5:52 pm
Najib’s will be a kitchen cabinet. I don’t see a single clean individual left in UMNO.
#8 by Taxidriver on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 6:04 pm
Can anyone suggest to me as to which portfolio I should give Muhkriz? And please, it must be a position that can match his father’s standing, otherwise he will gasak me like he gasaked Abdullah. Another thing, Mahatir wants me to resume the construction of that famous (infamous) bridge. I don’t know what to do now because the companies involved in the construction are his old friends.
#9 by All For The Road on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 6:04 pm
We will see whether we are going to get a half-past-six Cabinet consisting of ministers who do not perform come Wednesday or Thursday.
Hope Mahathir will not dictate to Najib whom to appoint to the Cabinet. Looks like Mahathir is dead set against KJ being appointed to a minister’s job. Najib will be at his wit’s end to decide! The return of Mahathirism should be stopped by all means!
#10 by cintanegara on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 6:06 pm
Any attempt by DAP to exploit TDM’s return would be backfired…..He is a man of integrity and will not interfere with the administration of our country …. You guys really like to sensationalize his return to Umno…… Conceivably, a loving father is the one interfering in the decision-making process within a particular state government……
#11 by OneMsian on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 6:42 pm
People have been talking about Rosmah will be ruling from behind the curtain long before Najib take over as PM. Now there is a additional figure behind the curtain…..TDM. Where is Malaysia heading to?
#12 by taiking on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 6:54 pm
Mahathir man of integrity? Now that’s new. And funny too. And what about that backfiring thingy cintanegara mentioned? The old man had to retire 7 yrs ago because at the point in time he was truly and really unpopular nationwide and he still is. We all know the reasons well and we are not likely to forget them. Umno would have collapsed then and there if he had stayed on as PM. Umno could have lost big time in the 11th GE. Under the circumstances then prevailing he had no choice. His retirement brought temporary relief to umno and got some borrowed time for umno. Borrowed time must be returned sooner or later. GE12 saw the start of the returning process. The worst for umno is not over yet. Umno could well have survive till GE13. Now with najib in the picture I am afraid the kind owner whose precious time is on loan to umno is getting impatient. He wants them back and soon. GE13 may be only some 3 yrs away but would umno be able to keep afloat till then to see it happening? I reckon not. Blame najib. Yes umno blame it all on najib. He is your terminator from the future. The artificial smile, the red lips and the stiff cheeks – yes they are all giveaway signs of a robot with living human tissue.
#13 by ktteokt on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 9:23 pm
I know where 1 UTAMA is, and I have seen the new signboard for 1 SHAMELIN. But where the hell is 1 MALAYSIA, is this another housing project about to be built by NAJIS?
#14 by Godfather on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 9:53 pm
1 Malaysia is the name of our 3rd submarine.
#15 by ktteokt on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 10:35 pm
How to have 1 MALAYSIA when BN has split the RAKYAT into two, right in the middle, i.e. BUMIPUTRAS and NON-BUMIPUTRAS?
#16 by OrangRojak on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 - 11:51 pm
1 Malaysia … splits … must resist….
Ah! I remember this – Najib must have read it from the DAP website – it’s the DAP rocket explanation! One Malaysia, two Malaysia and three Malaysia are obviously the ‘3 major races’ and four is ‘others’.
-with apologies to the Banana Splits.
#17 by passerby on Wednesday, 8 April 2009 - 12:33 am
With all the high praises by cintanegara, will the mama going to receive a Nobel prize soon?
Don’t bullshit us with “He is a man of integrity” You think we don’t know about the corruptions, abuse of power and nepotism going on under his administration.
Ask Anwar and he will tell you why he was charged with sodomy and how he got the black eye?
By the way, how much is his family worth? Don’t tell me all these rich umnoputras all of a sudden become so smart like the jews.
#18 by frankyapp on Wednesday, 8 April 2009 - 12:56 am
Come on you guys,stop spuring among youselves.Just remain silence,let NR pick and appoint his own power hunger mates into the cabinet.Why are you guys are so worry about NR’s selection .You should have no trade with him,why should you guys awake him in his sleep to urinate ?. Remember the chinese saying about not telling or advising your adversary’s how to solve his problem . If NR wished to hasten the termination of his premiership ,let it be guys so that PR can rise and replace him sooner,isn’t this you guys aim ? Be smart, guys !
#19 by Edgar J on Wednesday, 8 April 2009 - 1:14 am
Mahathir = a man of integrity? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
He painted himself to be one, by shaming others and making them look dirty. Then, he stood next to them looking cleaner.
But the rakyat know this … that Mahathir is a spin doctor who has lost the respect of Malaysians, judging from the election result (of Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau) which is also a referendum of the level of respect for him and his pathetic politics.
Tun Abdullah Badawi may have been slow and incompetent, but he commands the respect of the rakyat for his good intentions.
As much as Mahathir wants to extingusih the Abdullah Badawi legacy, Tun Abdullah’s legacy will live on, because Tun Abdullah has set the required mechanism in place, on autopilot, to clean up the corruption, cronyism and nepotism which had set in during the Mahathir era and had become a way of life in the government machinery.
How to stop Tun Abdullah’s legacy from highlighting Mahathir’s inadquacies? No need for stem cell injections to rejuvenate Mahathir physically, just use Najib Razak – a mere proxy, a “suit” that Mahathir puts on so that he can clean up his legacy of past wrongdoings. And of course, continue tormenting Anwar Ibrahim – Mahathir’s “unfinished business”.
#20 by monsterball on Wednesday, 8 April 2009 - 9:31 am
Man of Integrity spoke at two Bukits.
UMNO lost by bigger margin.
Integrity or “in the greedy” party again. Back the devil…to advise the greedy pack….to protect his son.
#21 by monsterball on Wednesday, 8 April 2009 - 9:38 am
Incase some may not know….”Integrity” means….quality of a person…being honest and morally right.
MAHATHIR?????…………..HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
#22 by monsterball on Wednesday, 8 April 2009 - 9:48 am
Carrying balls of UMNO have excel excellently ..continuously…no stop…by cintanegara. What a great half pass six UMNO have produced.
He should be decorate with a false title…”DatuK”…before People’s Power finish his master and this doggy have no more idiotic comments to make.
#23 by Taxidriver on Wednesday, 8 April 2009 - 1:58 pm
cintanegara says:
TDM…….”He is a man of integrity”
cintanegara, I know you are not a stupid person. Like everybody else, I know that YOU KNOW corruption in UMNO is so rampant that is has become a culture, sort of. I know that YOU KNOW the person who sowed and encouaged this culture is none other than Dr. Mahatir who, at one time, was named by Forbes to be among the world’s 10 riches men.
But one thing I DO NOT KNOW is why you keep licking his asshole, worshipping and calling him a man of integrity. You reserve the right not to to tell me why, but I can only conclude that you are as someone who has eyes but cannot see, has ears but cannot hear.
#24 by ekans on Wednesday, 8 April 2009 - 2:16 pm
If this leader has not cleared away all doubts about his own ‘cleanliless’, how do we know whether the choices he picks will also be ‘clean’?