PETALING JAYA: The performance of the newly-formed Cabinet will be closely monitored by the Opposition, says PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
In a video, the Opposition leader also questioned how the same ministers would be able to perform in their respective portfolios within the next 100 days, as he claimed they had failed since Perikatan Nasional gained power in March 2020.
“The PM gave 100 days for ministers to show their performance. But it has been more than a year, and there aren’t any proud achievements,” he said in a video shared with the media on Friday (Aug 27).
“So, we as the Opposition, will closely monitor, scrutinise and voice out if there are no effective programmes to tackle Covid-19 and bring change to the lives of the people,” added Anwar.
The Port Dickson MP said it was disappointing that as the nation deals with a worsening Covid-19 pandemic and stagnating economy, newly-appointed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri decided to “recycle” the same Cabinet ministers from the previous government.
“The nation is dealing with a worsening Covid-19 crisis and an economy that is increasingly affecting the people, especially the poor.
“But, the decision taken is to ‘recycle’ ministers who are incapable of handling this issue effectively,” said Anwar, who also noted the proliferation of political satire on social media lampooning the new Cabinet line-up.
“New cabinet or old cabinet. It’s just the same cabinet, without any changes,” he said.
On Friday (Aug 27) morning, Ismail Sabri announced his Cabinet line-up over local television channels.
Among the highlights of Ismail Sabri’s announcement was that he retained four senior ministers in the same portfolio as they had under the previous government.
Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Aziz remained as Finance Minister, while Khairy Jamaluddin is now Health Minister, and Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba is now Science, Technology and Innovation Minister.
There are 31 ministers and 38 deputies in Ismail Sabri’s cabinet, while Muhyiddin’s Cabinet had 31 ministers and 39 deputy ministers when the Perikatan government was formed.
Three ministers from the previous Cabinet were dropped – Khairuddin Aman Razali (Plantation Industries and Commodities), Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri (Religious Affairs), and Datuk Seri Redzuan Yusof (Special Functions).
The new Plantation Industries and Commodities minister is Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, while the Minister in charge of Religious Affairs is PAS vice president, Senator Idris Ahmad.
Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad, who was Rural and Regional Development Minister, is now the new Special Functions Minister.
