Nanyang Siang Pau, Editorial, 06-06-2014

As the next Parliament sitting from June 9 to 23 draws near, there are speculations that Prime Minister Najib is going to reshuffle his Cabinet. If the Cabinet reshuffle is done before the parliament session, the most likely date for such a change would be June 9. Based on various indications, this would be the most opportune time for him to do so. A Cabinet reshuffle cannot be delayed for too long because Barisan Nasional needs to firm up its team to prepare for the 14th general election.

If there is going to be a Cabinet reshuffle, the focus will be on the number ministerial posts given to MCA and Gerakan. Based on current circumstances, Gerakan President Mah Siew Keong who won the Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election will join the Cabinet in a respectful way. This was Prime Minister Najib’s election commitment and there should not be anything unexpected.

As to deputy minister’s posts, Gerakan, which has two MPs, may be given one. There should not be any dispute about it. Even if Gerakan did not get any deputy minister’s post, the party should resign to its fate based on its political domain.

On the other hand, the most closely watched will be MCA. MCA won only seven seats out of the 40 contested in the 2013 general election. Chinese voters have swung heavily to the opposition, resulting in the loss of many party strongholds. Its political strength in Barisan has been weakened and does not have much bargaining power in the fight for Cabinet ministers’ posts. If the Prime Minister is going to distribute Cabinet posts according to merit, the party would face difficulties in getting more minister or deputy minister’s posts.

When MCA was at its peak, the party had four ministers and seven deputy ministers. Earlier, party leaders have said that they hoped to get three ministers’ and five deputy ministers’ posts. This would be very unlikely now based on its weak position currently. It is most likely that MCA will have two ministers and three deputy ministers. There are others who think the party will have two ministers and two deputy ministers at the most.

However, the worst scenario could be that MCA may get only one minister’s post. If that happens, MCA leaders say they would rather stay out. Their bottom line is MCA should not get less than what MIC gets. MIC has four MPs but two ministers. However, it is said that based on the ratio of MIC’s victories in the number of seats contested, it is reasonable to be given the two ministerial posts.

We feel that while such a ratio is a consideration in his Cabinet reshuffle, the Prime Minister must also give consideration to political factors. The number of Cabinet posts is limited and under the current circumstances, there could not be more new posts.

The Prime Minister needs to balance the various factions within UMNO and he cannot “sacrifice” too many UMNO posts for MCA. This means that in order to give Gerakan and MCA more ministerial posts, the only way is to add more portfolios in his Cabinet, or in the Prime Minister’s Department. The other alternative is to “sacrifice” the posts of other component parties.

Nevertheless, the prerogative is in the hands of the Prime Minister, let’s wait and see how many changes are made in the next Cabinet.

Original Source: 南洋社论：马华阁员多寡引关注