Najib’s ‘new, transformational’ cabinet

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak today unveiled a new, dynamic cabinet to drive through his ambitious economic and political transformation agenda.

The cabinet includes a mix of technocrats and civil society representatives, who bring valuable experience from outside government, as well as experienced ministers and younger faces. The cabinet also draws on Malaysia’s diverse ethnic communities.

“The new cabinet will be responsible for delivering transformation in Malaysia and continuing the economic and political reforms that began four years ago,” said Najib while announcing his cabinet. He was flanked by his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin and Chief Secretary to the Government Ali Hamsa.

“The new ministers bring both the measured calm of experience, and the vibrant energy of new ideas; a grounding in anti-corruption and human rights law, and an appreciation for the dynamism of the private sector.

“Over the past months and years, divisions have opened up in Malaysian society. Now it is time for all of us, in government and beyond, to put the bitterness behind us, and work towards national reconciliation – and national unity.

“It is in that spirit that I have asked these men and women to serve, not just as ministers, but as a unity Cabinet. Together we will act to bring about national reconciliation, secure Malaysia’s economic future, and build a stronger, more harmonious society,” he said.

Sabah, Sarawak, Umno rewarded

Sabah and Sarawak which both gave a large chunk of MP seats to BN were rewarded with 15 parliamentarians being named in the cabinet, of which 10 were full ministers.

There were no representatives from Gerakan and MCA although Najib has set aside the Transport Ministry for the latter in the event it decides to join the government. There are only two Chinese representatives in the cabinet – Senator Paul Low (minister) and Mary Yap (deputy minister).

There were 35 Umno parliamentarians in the cabinet, including 16 full ministers. Most of them were the old faces who had been retained – but given different portfolios – by Najib. However former Agriculture and Agro-based Industry minister and Tanjung Karang MP Noh Omar was dropped.

The two prominent new Umno faces are Khairy Jamaluddin and Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

New faces in Najib’s cabinet include:

·         Paul Low, anti-corruption campaigner and President of Transparency International (Malaysia), who will be a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

·         P Waythamoorthy, human rights activist and chairman of HINDRAF, an NGO that campaigns for equal rights for Malaysian Indians, who will be a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

·         Abdul Wahid Omar, President and CEO of Maybank, one of Southeast Asia’s top five banks that serves 22 million customers, who will be a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

·         Khairy Jamaluddin, the 37 year-old MP re-elected MP for Rembau with a tripled majority of over 18,000 votes, who will be Minister for Youth & Sports.

·         Abdul Rahman Dahlan, MP for Kota Belud in Sabah, who will lead the new Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing & Local Government.

 

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Thursday, 16 May 2013 08:55

Paul Low, just a 'poster boy' for Najib or will he be allowed to clear up corruption

Written by  Tony Pua 

The appointment of Datuk Paul Low as a Minister in Prime Minister’s Department will be the barometer by which Datuk Seri Najib’s new 5 year reign as the premier will be judged.

The Cabinet line up provided many disappointments such as its bloated size, the inclusion of controversial characters with questionable repute. These disappointment will be dealt with to varying degrees by my Pakatan Rakyat colleagues.

However, Datuk Seri Najib Razak sprung his only surprise with the “bold” inclusion of Datuk Paul Low, who is the current Chairman of Transparency International, as a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

This “bold” appointment, will in fact decide the fate of Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his second term as the Prime Minister because it will determine if his administration is willing to carry out the far-reaching reforms necessary to ensure a clean, transparent and competitive administration as advocated by Transparency International.

With Datuk Paul Low, we look to seeing an uncompromising stance in the Government’s fight against corruption and cronyism, to uphold the Transparency International’s Integrity Pledge which Najib has himself signed. The pledge demands that Najib’s administration will “observe the principles of truth, integrity, ethical conduct and accountability, including not accepting or giving bribes or being involved in any way in corrupt practices.”

Rakyat first

More generally, the pledge requires that the government “uphold and give priority to the interests of the Rakyat as a whole” as well as “practice good governance and transparency”.

While Barisan Nasional has trampled upon the above pledge before and during the General Election, with the blatant practice of vote-buying and media manipulation, the people of Malaysia still hope to see that the BN leaders have learnt their lesson after clearly losing the popular vote.

The first priority for the BN Government, with Datuk Paul Low acting as a “Transparency Minister”, is to immediately declare that all Government privatisation and procurement contracts will henceforth by awarded via open and competitive tenders with all details and information made in a transparent manner.

In fact all recently concluded procurement contracts, particularly in the defence industry as well as mega-privatisation contracts such as the RM5.3 billion West Coast Expressway, the RM2.2 billion Kinrara-Damansara Expressway, the Penang Port and KTM Bhd which have not been completed or where works have yet to commence, be immediately suspended pending a new open tender exercise.

The measures carried out by Pemandu under Datuk Idris Jala to date to ensure greater transparency have also failed to gain traction with many Ministries openly defying directives to publish the outcomes and details procurement contracts. Datuk Paul Low must hence wield the uncompromising stick to enforce discipline among the many ministries to cut back on wastages, corruption and cronyism.

At the same time, we expect the new administration to be resolute in carrying out effective investigations against those who are corrupt, regardless of the position these powerful may hold in the Government. For a start, the new Cabinet must immediately rebuke the Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud for his outright refusal to cooperate with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) because the latter is “naughty”. The failure to even admonish such behaviour will erase all “positive” perceptions arising from Datuk Paul  Low’s appointment.

Bad cop

Most importantly, beyond the expected minimum of just acting against corrupt and opaque practices, we look to Datuk Paul Low to raise the bar of transparency in the Malaysian government by requiring that all Ministers and Deputy Ministers publicly declare their assets as had been done in both Penang and Selangor state governments. The asset declaration is a critical element to regain public trust of the administration which has been riddled with corruption and abuse of power, contributing to a continuous decline of Malaysia’s rankings in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index.

Pakatan Rakyat will provide the fullest support to Datuk Paul Low to implement all necessary measures to ensure a clean, transparent and competitive government. In fact Datuk Paul Low can afford to be the “bad cop” in the Najib administration because he will owe no political allegiance to any person or party.

However, we hope that the Najib administration isn’t just trying to have Datuk Paul Low’s impeccable credentials rub off on the former, without real and tangible reforms enforced. Without such measures by the Prime Minister, Datuk Paul Low will only become a lame duck Minsiter, and his reputation severely tarnished.

The eyes and hopes of all Malaysians will be on the performance of Datuk Paul Low to check the rampant corruption in government. We will not want to be disappointed.

Tony Pua is the DAP MP for PJ Utara