CHAIRMAN of the Council of Eminent Persons Daim Zainuddin today advised ministers against quarrelling among themselves openly as this could make the people feel disgusted with the government.

He said although it was understood that all the ministers are new, such behaviour could not be allowed to go on and they should show solidarity.

“They (ministers) are certainly new. They have been in the opposition for 50 years, but even though they won (the 14th general election) together, they are still quarrelling among themselves.

“I have reminded them many times that if they want to quarrel, they may do so for six months. If they still insist on quarrelling after that, the people may soon feel disgusted,” he said at a luncheon at Universiti Teknologi Mara today.

He said it would be better for the ministers to work as a team with civil servants and the various agencies under their respective ministries, because they were capable and had good qualifications.

“There are ministers who do their work without seeking any opinions. When this happens, the civil servants take their hands off matters. This is among the reasons why many things are not implemented properly,” he said.

In recent days two senior ministers – Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali – made conflicting statements on the status of the East Coast Railway Link (ECRL) mega project.

Azmin had first announced that the government had decided to cancel the project, but this was disputed by Lim, who said he was “shocked” by the announcement.

Lim also made conflicting statements on Azmin’s presence in a cabinet meeting held to decide the matter.

Azmin had said the government had terminated China Communications Construction Group Ltd as the project’s contractor, while Lim had said an official decision had yet to be made.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad waded in to explain that his cabinet was young and inexperienced.

He also defended both Azmin and Lim by saying that both ministers were right “but (the) timing was wrong”.

Before this, Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and minister in charge of unity, P. Waytha Moorthy were involved in an indirect tiff when the former admitted that he “smuggled” members of Bersatu Armada into the prime minister’s office so that they could submit a memorandum calling for Waytha’s sacking.

Syed Saddiq is also the chief of the Bersatu youth wing. – Bernama, January 30, 2019.