Just days after Malaysia's Cabinet formed, Umno leaders make demands on key posts, probes

Malaysia's new Cabinet members signing documents after taking the oath before King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah (not pictured) at the Istana Melawati in Putrajaya on March 10, 2020. PHOTO: AFP

PETALING JAYA - Several Umno leaders have criticised Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's new Cabinet line-up, saying though it has the largest bloc of MPs, most of the key ministries were given to the premier's own party, The Star online news reported on Thursday (March 12).

And Umno's president, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, on Thursday in a statement after his party's leadership meeting, demanded that the new Perikatan Nasional (PN) government prioritise investigations into alleged wrongdoings of the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration.

Johor MP Azalina Othman Said in a tweet on Thursday said Tan Sri Muhyiddin's Cabinet has unfair party representation.

"In honouring the spirit of a coalition partnership, don't we (Umno) deserve a fairer deal?"

She said the Prime Minister and two of the four senior ministers are from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, although Bersatu has only 28 per cent of total MPs in PN.

Umno, which has 35 per cent of the lawmakers, has only one senior minister.

PM Muhyiddin, in announcing the line-up on Monday (March 9), did away with a deputy prime minister, but raised four MPs as senior ministers - two from his party Bersatu, one from Umno and the fourth from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).

In a tweet on Wednesday (March 11), Datuk Seri Azalina said the coalition government should be based on proportionate representation and not dominated by any one party, The Star reported.

The Cabinet has 31 ministers, excluding PM Muhyiddin - 11 are from Bersatu, nine from Umno as well as one each from the MCA and MIC.

Umno, the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) are members of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

UMNO SHOULD HAVE KEY MINISTRIES

Ms Azalina said: "Umno should have been given more significant ministries such as the Women and Family Ministry, the Home Ministry, Finance Ministry, Agriculture and Food Industry Ministry, and Rural Development Ministry," she added.

Meanwhile, Johor Baru Umno chief Shahrir Samad claimed the current Cabinet line-up does not represent the en bloc spirit of PN, which comprises Bersatu, BN, Parti Islam SeMalaysia and GPS.

Tan Sri Shahrir said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that it was the PN bloc that together supported Mr Muhyiddin as premier until he was appointed by the Malaysian King.

But he said that when the time came to appoint Cabinet ministers, "it is as though the en bloc spirit disappeared".

"The portfolio that was held by them (ministers) weren't negotiated and it is as though it was left to the discretion of the Prime Minister who was appointed based on the support of Barisan and PAS.

Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin on Wednesday lamented that Sabah Umno was not represented in the Cabinet, The Star reported.

Mr Shahrir said that while Bung Mokhtar might not have been appointed a minister due to ongoing court case, another Sabah Umno was available to be made one of the 38 deputy ministers, Datuk Mohamad Alamin.

TABUNG HAJI BAILOUT

Meanwhile, Umno president Zahid listed six issues that he said the PN government should prioritise, including forming a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to probe allegations of wrongdoing made by the previous government against BN.

Zahid issued the statement after Umno's supreme council meeting, local media reported.

One of the issues, he said, is to probe the previous Tabung Haji management, The Star said.

The PH government under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had set up a special purpose vehicle called Uruharta Jamaah in December 2018 to bail out Tabung Haji.

It said then that the pilgrimage fund was deep in financial trouble debt due to mismanagement by the Umno-led BN government

The special purpose vehicle took over RM19.9 billion (S$6.6 billion) of Tabung Haji's underperforming assets, thus allowing the fund to start on a clean slate and enable it to pay out dividends to finance haj journeys.

But Umno leaders had from the start denied there was mismanagement of the pilgrimage fund.

KHAZANAH AND OTHER ASSET SALES

Zahid also said the new government should review the recent sale of assets by government-linked bodies such as Tabung Haji, sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional and the Armed Forces Fund Board among others.

In October last year, then economic affairs minister Azmin Ali said Khazanah had sold assets totalling RM18.8 billion between May 2018 and June 2019 to pare down its debt which hit about RM55 billion last year.

Datuk Seri Azmin said proceeds from the divestments are used to invest into new investments besides repaying its maturing debts.

PROBE INTO DAP IN PENANG

Zahid also said that the new PN government must conduct investigations into major projects involving PH and the Penang government, which is led by BN's political enemy, the Democratic Action Party (DAP).

"In order to fulfil the principle of rule of law, Umno calls the government to reopen the cases stopped by the Pakatan government, including the Penang undersea tunnel project, and three tolls involving the DAP leadership worth some RM6.3 billion," he said.

FIREMAN'S DEATH IN TEMPLE RIOT

The Umno president also called on the government to expedite the probe and prosecution of individuals that he claimed are linked to the death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim.

Mr Adib, 24, became critically injured after he and his team members from the Subang Jaya fire station were deployed to a riot at a Hindu temple on Nov 27, 2018. He died in hospital several weeks later on Dec 17.

The case had become a controversial rallying call for Malay Muslims, with claims that the PH government was trying to hide the truth behind the death.

An inquest by the PH government ruled on Sept 27 last year that Mr Adib died after being seriously injured in the riot at the Hindu temple in Selangor and that he was killed by two or more people whose identities are unknown.

"The blunt chest trauma (on Adib) was not caused by himself or (an) accident but a criminal act by two or more persons unknown," said judge Rofiah Mohamad in the coroner's court then.

His injuries were caused by unidentified individuals who had dragged him out of the emergency medical rescue service vehicle, she added.

"I am also of the view that the police and the (riot police) had failed to control the riot and this had contributed to Adib's death," she said.

DROP POLICE COMMISSION PLAN

Zahid in his statement also called for the termination of the PH government's agenda to set up of an Independent Police Complaints of Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), which he believed would curb the effectiveness of the police force.

PH had wanted the commission to be set up to look into claims of police abuse including the deaths of suspects in custody over the years.

The plan to set up of this monitoring body in unpopular among the mostly-Malay police force.

STOP CURBING CIVIL SERVICE NUMBERS

Zahid also called on the government led by PM Muhyiddin to freeze a decision to lay off civil servants on contract status, policies to reduce the number of civil servants, who are mostly from the majority Malay community.

PH had moved to reduce the civil service in order to cut government spending.

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