YOURSAY | Can Muhyiddin 2.0 cabinet do things differently?

YOURSAY | ‘They haven’t proven themselves in 500 days, why another 100?’

Ismail unveils cabinet, no DPM

Kita Orangbiasa: Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, one of the main grouses of the rakyat during the previous government was a bloated cabinet with too many ministers and deputy ministers. Now you have come up with a similar list.

Why do you need 69 ministers and deputy ministers during these difficult times? What will be their contributions during the Covid pandemic? The same ministries were there for the last 18 months and they all failed miserably to fight the pandemic, and that includes you!

Most ministries don't even fully function during Covid times and even if they do, they don't need a minister and a couple of deputy ministers. Some of the ministers in the previous government were never in the news for what they were doing in the 17 to 18 months they were there.

Australia, with an almost similar population size to Malaysia, has only 23 ministers.

Ismail Sabri, your bloated cabinet list was least expected and this will surely see the extreme wrath of public anger. You are wasting taxpayer money on a very unproductive group of ministers and deputy ministers.

While you said the main goal of the new government is to fight Covid, having a bloated cabinet with the same set of failed people is surely not the answer. You and your government will soon be named “Kerajaan Gagal Versi 2” (Failed Government Version 2).

BusinessFirst: Indeed, we have the same failed team. They have not proven themselves for the last 500 days, what can they achieve in another 100 days except to cause more hardship?

Also, I do not understand the logic. Since you are retaining Khairy Jamaluddin and Adham Baba as ministers, why change their ministries? Will it not require time for them to get up to speed in their new roles in the middle of a pandemic?

Since they have been working together as part of the Umno, just keep them where they are. This seems to be like trying to show change when actually there is none. It is nothing more than changing seating positions.

I think we are getting a Muhyiddin Yassin 2.0 - no substance, all talk. This means that the outreach to the opposition is probably going to be underwhelming in substance too. Expect more suffering for the people until the 15th general election (GE15) or another fight with the court cluster.

BlueShark1548: Ismail Sabri does not have much space to negotiate as, just like Muhyiddin, he depends on the votes of MPs because of his narrow minority. He has to accommodate everyone even if it results in a bloated cabinet.

His actions would show how much independence he has to initiate policy change. He has the support of Pakatan Harapan so even if his government becomes a minority, Harapan could still ensure his survival if he is prepared to carry out reforms previously offered by Muhyiddin.

If he continues to allow himself to be held ransom, then his government would likely end before this year.

Hamzah Zainudin continues to be heading the Home Ministry. What of the Registrar of Societies (ROS)’s actions against Umno and the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda)?

Constitutional Supremacy: Attention Harapan. The fact that Hamzah has been retained as home minister is a clear signal that the same oppression of the opposition and the rakyat will continue.

Peaceful assemblies will not be allowed. Even MPs will not be able to organise. There will be unnecessary police reports lodged and persons investigated to put fear in the rakyat to toe the line. Nothing could be worse.

It was naive for PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and Amanah president Mohamad Sabu to run to Ismail Sabri and sign indirect letters of support.

Harapan was elected by the people and thus you are duty-bound to get back the people's mandate through lawful means. Do not try to entrench yourself as the opposition forever.

Do not give the excuse of wanting stability. Harapan should vote against the prime minister during the confidence vote in Parliament.

Harapan should also demand the removal of Hamzah as home minister. The people cannot bear him for the next two years. Harapan, you are forewarned. The rakyat are watching.

Kuniyo: Rather than condemn and ridicule the new cabinet as old wine in a new bottle, the opposition should unveil its own shadow cabinet. Let each government minister be shadowed by a shadow minister from the opposition.

You have enough people to form a shadow cabinet, there are 105 of you. If you think this not-so-new government is incompetent, show us voters what you can do. How will you do things differently? Show us you are ready for the job from day 1.

If you think a manifesto is not only for an election, this is the time for you to prove it. Let it be a contest of policy ideas, rather than a contest of presidential styles and personalities.

Your campaign should be bigger than making Anwar prime minister. It should tell us how you will do better than Perikatan Nasional (PN). And PN already set a very low bar.

IndigoCat9464: Let the prehistoric dinosaurs run until the next general election. There may be not much left in the coffers but anything is possible if they keep digging. It's going to be a huge challenge to restore the economy, education, and many more sectors with the pandemic still around.

This is a very good opportunity for the opposition to prepare themselves for GE15. They have to still be wary of these dinosaurs as they most likely will keep playing up the 3Rs of race, religion, and royalty.

So, instead of going head-on and countering every discriminating behaviour of theirs, the opposition should have a formidable public relations team to take care and explain rationally, especially to the rural voters, fence-sitters, and the ones still supporting the dinosaurs.

As the coffers need to be refilled and there are debts to settle, it’ll be useless for the opposition to make promises which can't be fulfilled like abolishing tolls and the PTPTN (National Education Fund). A carefully researched manifesto from the opposition is a must.

Apa Ini: This new government is the same old PN government, so expect the same old incompetents and same old politics.

Yes, the opposition should focus on GE15 and until then do their best to deliver whatever they can to help their constituents and rally their support. 

Make it as good as GE14 when even those Malaysians abroad wanted to come home to vote.

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