Cabinet appointments have never prioritised merit, driven instead by political calculations, a political analyst said.
Lau Zhe Wei from International Islamic University of Malaysia noted no prime minister has truly selected based on merit alone.
“At the end of the day, they are based on political calculations. You still need to consider party quotas,” he told FMT.
Analyst Azmil Tayeb from Universiti Sains Malaysia said balancing unity government parties’ interests with top talent is tricky. “These two goals are not necessarily aligned,” he added.
Cabinet reshuffle urged
The analysts commented on Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi’s December 12 call for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to ignore party quotas.
Puad urged using Sabah election results as a yardstick for a “game-changer” reshuffle to keep high-performing ministers.
Four posts remain vacant: economy; natural resources and environment sustainability; entrepreneur development and cooperatives; and investment, trade and industry.
Mazlan Ali from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said Sabah poll performance on November 29 is irrelevant, as local sentiment hurt peninsular parties.
Still, party results could benchmark allocations if Anwar stays prime minister post-general election.
Both Mazlan and Lau expect an Umno appointee for investment, trade and industry, with the other three going to PH MPs. Lau suggested a Sabahan party MP for the entrepreneur post vacated by Ewon Benedick.
Mazlan advised discussing technocrat options with parties to avoid discontent.
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