YOURSAY | PKR deputy president Rafizi should be finance minister

YOURSAY | 'Anwar, please ensure competent persons head the ministries.'

PM may announce partial cabinet list tomorrow

Kilimanjaro: Whatever the request from the various parties in the government, two key ministerial posts should be with Pakatan Harapan - the Finance Ministry and the Home Ministry.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad chopped up the Finance Ministry and passed the bulk of it to the then international trade and industry minister Azmin Ali.

The lesser half of the debt-collecting ministry went to then DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who was finance minister under Mahathir’s administration from May 2018 to February 2020.

I still believe Mahathir did this on purpose, knowing well the bitterness between the current Prime Minister and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin - who left PKR to join Bersatu.

I believe, and many Malaysians may share this view - that current PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli ought to be the finance minister.

By this, it doesn't mean Guan Eng, who is currently the DAP national chairperson, is not good for the post. Together with former Petaling Jaya MP Tony Pua, he did an excellent job, but these are early days of a government cobbled together as a unity government.

We are hearing news already on how the opposition has been out to create problems for the government. Moreover, Rafizi will make a good finance minister, except that he should not spend too much time dwelling on the past.

Leave that to someone else and work on improving the finances of the country, considering that we may face a possible recession in 2024.

It was a colossal mistake for Mahathir to give the Home Ministry to Bersatu's chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin. It should have gone to someone from Harapan. With only 13 seats then, giving a senior ministerial post to Bersatu did a lot of damage to the coalition.

Instead of building the coalition, he (Muhyiddin) shamelessly embarked on breaking it up, though I am pretty sure he will never win the war with Harapan.

With magnanimity, openness, give-and-take, embracing all races, as well as respect and honour towards the royalty - Harapan is way, way above and ahead of Perikatan Nasional and PAS.

We will be ready for the mischief and propaganda from them the next time. We know how to get the truth to the people.

Proarte: In the same way Mahathir made use of Harapan, BN is stepping all over Anwar, undermining his reformist government and dictating the cabinet positions. Will the real prime minister please stand up?

What this shows is that our politicians are selfish liars who promise one thing before elections and another after.

Malaysia is going to have a dysfunctional cabinet, which will betray what Harapan claims to stand for. It will merely serve as an enabler of the ketuanan (supremacy) narrative, with DAP a willing accomplice because of the overriding pursuit of position, not power.

DAP will be allowed the ‘honour’ of replacing MCA. Its job is to shut up and speak when it is asked to.

ElGitano: Pre-election strategies are always different from post-election, especially when every party will have to negotiate and compromise their principles to a certain extent. So is the current situation where the PM needs to balance the rod to avoid falling into the pit.

Taking a little bit longer to settle the portfolios is necessary, but we do hope the outcome will be a win-win for all parties.

The finance portfolio is the most crucial and, like it or not, it must remain with PKR or under its control despite all the heavy lobbying. Ignore the finance portfolio and Harapan will lose everything.

Apanama is Back: Anwar, take your time, brother. No hurry. ‘Esok masih ada’ (There is still tomorrow). I am not concerned about who will be deputy prime ministers 1, 2, and 3. This is not important because you need to reward the parties who support you, even though you mentioned that you will not reward them.

My concern is only for the following ministries – agriculture, education, health, finance, home, foreign, defence, as well as environment and water.

Please ensure competent persons head the ministries, not some blurry people, it does not matter from which parties they come. If you, say, screw up for whatever reasons, you are in trouble.

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