Umno MP says party should have more significant ministries

Malaysian PM criticised for giving key portfolios to his own party, even though it has only 28% of MPs in alliance

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi wants to stop the PH government's plan to set up an independent police commission to look into claims of police abuse. The plan is unpopular among the mostly-Malay police force.
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi wants to stop the PH government's plan to set up an independent police commission to look into claims of police abuse. The plan is unpopular among the mostly-Malay police force. PHOTO: BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR • Several Umno leaders have criticised Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's new Cabinet line-up, saying that although the party has the largest bloc of MPs, most key ministries were given to the Premier's own party, Bersatu.

Umno, after its supreme council meeting yesterday, listed six demands it wants the new Perikatan Nasional (PN) government to meet. These included reopening a probe into the death of a Malay fireman who was injured in a riot in 2018 at a Hindu temple, and investigating former leaders of the Democratic Action Party in Penang over alleged project irregularities.

Johor MP Azalina Othman Said, in a tweet yesterday, 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 the total number of MPs in PN.

Umno, which has 35 per cent of the lawmakers, was given only one senior minister's post.

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

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

The Cabinet has 31 ministers excluding Prime Minister Muhyiddin. Among the 31 are 11 from Bersatu, nine from Umno as well as one each from the Malaysian Chinese Association and Malaysian Indian Congress. The rest are from PN's other member parties.

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."

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

Tan Sri Shahrir said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that it was the PN bloc that 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 had disappeared".

"The portfolio that was held by them (ministers) was not 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 an ongoing court case, another Sabah Umno member was available to be made one of the 38 deputy ministers, Datuk Mohamad Alamin.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, in listing his senior leaders' demands, focused on issues that have traction with the Malay Muslim ground. He said the PN government should probe the previous Tabung Haji management.

The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had, in December 2018, bailed out Tabung Haji, with a government firm absorbing RM19.9 billion (S$6.6 billion) of the pilgrimage fund's underperforming assets. PH blamed the losses on mismanagement by the Umno-led government, but Umno denied this.

Zahid said the government should probe these asset sales of Tabung Haji, and also by government companies such as sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional.

He also called on the government to expedite the prosecution of individuals that he claimed are linked to the death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim. Mr Adib, 24, died in December 2018, several weeks after being seriously injured when deployed at a Selangor Hindu temple during a riot.

The case became a controversial rallying call for Malay Muslims, with claims that the PH government was hiding the truth behind the death.

An inquest by the PH government ruled in September last year that Mr Adib died after being seriously injured in the incident, and that he was killed by two or more unknown people.

Zahid, in his statement, also called for the termination of the PH government's plan to set up an independent police commission to look into claims of police abuse. The plan is unpopular among the mostly-Malay police force.

He said the government should also freeze moves to lay off civil servants on contract and policies to reduce the number of civil servants, who are also mostly from the majority Malay community. PH was doing so to cut government spending.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 13, 2020, with the headline Umno MP says party should have more significant ministries. Subscribe