KUALA LUMPUR: KUALA LUMPUR: The long-awaited full Cabinet list can be expected in one or two days, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) communications director Khalid Samad said.
Speaking to the New Straits Times Press today, Khalid noted that although he has no definite answer over the matter although the Cabinet list was supposed to be announced yesterday.
“There was supposed to be a press conference yesterday after the Cabinet meeting but the conference was not held right?
“So just wait another day or two and you’ll get your Cabinet.
“I don’t know for certain about this because the only person who can tell us is (Prime Minister) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad,” he said.
A source within Pakatan Harapan (PH) also confirmed this, saying that the full Cabinet list would be out by end of this week.
“I believe it will be at the end of this week because several phone calls were made for the next phase (of Cabinet members).
“This involves several appointments and I’m assuming it will not be too long,” the source said.
The issue on the full Cabinet list raised some eyebrows due to the fact that it has yet to be finalised although PH has become the Federal government for over a month now.
While the first 14-member Cabinet was announced on May 18, PH has yet to unveil the remaining members of the Cabinet, which is expected to comprise at least 25 members.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia political analyst Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin was of the opinion that Dr Mahathir did not expect PH to win big in the recent 14th General Election (GE14), hence the delay in announcing the full Cabinet list.
“It’s good to remember that Dr Mahathir was our prime minister before for 22 years so he knows what needs to be done. The fact that he could not announce the full Cabinet list after over a month is very interesting.
“I believe PH’s victory actually took Dr Mahathir by surprise and there is no other explanation. This is Dr Mahathir we’re talking about. He is always prepared except on this one particular matter,” he said when contacted.
Shamsul explained that Dr Mahathir would need time to get to know everyone in PH to know what they are capable of doing before appointing them, and this, he said, had caused the delay in the announcement.
Apart from that, Shamsul also pointed out that Dr Mahathir is a meticulous person who would not do things halfway.
“He will always do thorough background checks before appointing his Cabinet members and this WILL take time since he didn’t prepare any of this before the May 9 election.”
Asked to comment further on his view that PH’s historic victory had taken Dr Mahathir by surprise, Shamsul believed that the longest-serving prime minister had underestimated his own ability to sway votes.
He said, Dr Mahathir’s aim since 2015 had always been to oust former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and that the nonagenarian was expecting to only reduce Umno’s majority at less than 10 parliamentary seats.
“But to his own surprise, being a smart strategist that he is, Dr Mahathir actually helped the voters to decide on who to vote.
“He used a single logo for PH and it was clear to everyone that the competition was between Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional.
“That was the most important strategic move he made at the last minute. He turned Najib’s ‘dacing’ (BN symbol of a scale) into a villain,” he said.
PH created history when the coalition managed to wrest Putrajaya from BN who had ruled the country for 61 years since Malaysia gained its independence in 1957.