Sin Chew Daily

The cabinet announced by prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will not have a honeymoon period and all the appointed ministers must get down to work immediately and focus on the various problems and challenges faced by the country in finance, economy, public health, education as well as interracial relations.

Malaysians are watching very closely how the new government is going to run this country, and the newly appointed minsters will not have the luxury of time to prove their worth with their mouths alone or fight to win the recognition of Malaysians. They must roll up their sleeves and get down to work right away to prove that they are worthy of their appointments.

This is the first time a cabinet has been installed without a deputy prime minister but with four senior minsters, similar in nature to the coordinating minsters of Singapore and Indonesia where a senior minster is responsible for coordinating several ministries to strengthen the policy-making process. In addition to enhanced efficiency, it will also allow the policies to be drawn up more comprehensively. Such an arrangement is good in essence and will satisfy the needs of the country as it enters a new phase of development. As the country is facing a wide array of tacky problems and increasingly intricate challenges, the appointment of various coordinating ministers is therefore timely and necessary.

That said, the appointment of four senior ministers has obviously stemmed from the prime minister's failed attempt to appoint a deputy prime minister in a bid to evade conflicts and controversies while balancing out powers from different parties. While politically this is feasible, whether this solution works in practice remains to be seen.

Undeniably, a much bloated 70-member cabinet is perceived as an absolutely necessary expedient move by Muhyiddin to balance out the powers in order to keep his administration stable in the face of more powerful political forces from within his own alliance such as Umno.

Nevertheless, a bloated cabinet will also add to the burden of public administration expenses and may compromise operational efficiency and interdepartmental coordination.

One thing that the Muhyiddin cabinet deserves commendation is the appointment of an experienced non-politician banker to be the new finance minister. It is hoped that Tengku Zafrul's professional forte will help mitigate the tremendous economic impact from the coronavirus outbreak. In addition, the position of the minister in the PM's department in charge of religious affairs has been entrusted to a non-political cleric, and this should allay the fears of the country's non-Malays. There is also a minister dedicated to East Malaysian affairs widely seen as a reward for GPS' support of Muhyiddin as prime minister.

Although there are non-political technocrats recruited in Muhyiddin's cabinet, the number has been insignificant against the overwhelming majority of politicians. Indeed, the various parties that make up the new cabinet — including a divided PPBM, defectors from PKR, BN, PAS and a GPS willing only to join the cabinet but not the new alliance — all have their own political calculations. If they all have their own political interests as priority, it is hard for the new cabinet to put up a good showing for the benefit of the rakyat.

While announcing his cabinet line-up, PM Muhyiddin insisted that he wanted to form a team that would offer the best possible services to the people. To prove that his cabinet is efficient, capable and truly people-friendly, Muhyiddin must be able to lead effectively and get the various component parties that make up his government to put aside their political fights and work together for the well-being of the rakyat, not just their own.