COMMENT | Questionable appointments underline need to expedite reforms

COMMENT | Bersih welcomes Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement of his cabinet line-up last night. It is reflective of the composition of his "unity government" and yet keeping to his election promise to reduce the size of the cabinet.

However, we are dismayed that Anwar has appointed himself to helm the important finance portfolio, which weakens the check and balance that is necessary to ensure that we do not return to the days of Najib Abdul Razak's administration where the premier as the finance minister almost bankrupted our country through the 1MDB scheme.

We are also disappointed that Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who still has 47 ongoing corruption charges, was appointed as the deputy prime minister and helming the Rural and Regional Development Ministry. Though we understand the politics behind his appointment, we regret that principles took a backseat.

Both these questionable appointments threaten to undermine Anwar's commitment to fighting corruption.

To cement his credentials as a reformist, Anwar has to double down on efforts to fulfil Pakatan Harapan election manifesto promises to fight corruption and strengthen the integrity of our key institutions.

Anwar and the new cabinet must immediately prioritise the following three actions to remove any doubts of interference in court cases and conflict of interest:

1. Make the solicitor-general assume the role of the public prosecutor with immediate effect until the necessary constitutional amendments are made to remove that role from that of the attorney-general.

2. Promote political stability and parliamentary oversight by giving meaningful roles to the opposition and government backbenchers in the shadow cabinet and parliamentary special select committees (PSSCs), with commensurate salary, policy research support and access to government information for shadow ministers as well as chairs and deputy chairs of the PSSCs, further enhanced by enactment of a new Parliamentary Services Act and establishment of Parliamentary Budget Office.

3. Reform the process to appoint and remove key public officers such as the MACC chief, Election Commission and Suhakam commissioners. The process should grant more independence from the executive and include meaningful roles for Parliament, civil society and other stakeholders.

Women representation

Bersih also welcomes the appointment of Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said as the law minister. We hope that she would drive the reforms promised in both the Harapan and BN manifestos, continuing with many of the reforms started by some of her predecessors such as the late VK Liew and Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

We are also pleased that Azalina is among five women appointed to lead key ministries such as education, health, youth and sports, and women and family. While this cabinet has the highest representation of women as ministers, it is still far from a gender-balanced cabinet.

With the formation of the new cabinet, the task of governing and serving the rakyat begins. It is our hope, and the hope of the rakyat that there will be political stability and this administration would be given the opportunity to govern full term and all parties, including the opposition would play constructive roles in nation-building.

As a member of civil society, Bersih will continue to be a nonpartisan voice and would continue to push for reforms that would strengthen our democracy.

BERSIH is a coalition for clean and fair elections.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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