HAVING regrouped over the break, the Umno-led opposition returns to Parliament better organised with a “shadow cabinet” ready to take on Pakatan Harapan.

Unlike during its historic and chaotic debut meeting as the federal opposition, Umno used the break to form a “shadow cabinet” or what it called the Portfolio Committee (JKP) system.

The JKP is to hold the government accountable for its actions and for it to stop taking the opposition lightly.

The committee is split into four clusters, which are the Prime Minister’s Department, Law, Human Resources and Safety,

Members in the committee include Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Shahidan Kassim and Hishammuddin Hussein.

The second cluster is Finance, Economy and Industry. Members of the Finance committee include Khairy Jamaluddin and Joseph Kurup.

The third cluster is Education, Social and Culture and the fourth being Infrastructure, Technology, Health and Communication and Multimedia, which includes Shamsul Anuar Nasarah and Zahidi Zainul Abidin.

Zahidi, who is Padang Besar MP, said he expects issues surrounding economics and cost of living to be among the hot topics debated in Dewan Rakyat since Budget 2019 will be tabled in this session.

He said after PH took over power, the country’s economic situation is becoming more alarming with the government’s “flip-flop” decisions, which had only left investors feeling uneasy.

“When the economy isn’t good, the public, especially those in rural areas, will be adversely affected with the low price of rubber and palm oil.

“We have to find an initiative for the government to help this group of people,” said the former Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) chairman.

Besides, Zahidi said the performance of cabinet members will also be raised to ensure any weaknesses can be fixed immediately so that the people will get proper protection.

“We also want to see how the country’s longest prime minister candidate in-waiting, Anwar Ibrahim, will tackle the rising issues,” he said.

Jasin MP Ahmad Hamzah said with the presence of the appointed JKP, the task of the opposition MPs are clearer because each of them have been given a role towards issues that they should focus on.

“We have our tasks to help one another. We want to be a constructive opposition to check and balance what is being done by the government.

“We will make preparations, research on rising issues so that the fate of the people will be upheld. Not just by opposing,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Khairy, who is in charge of finance, is expected to lead the debate on the Budget 2019 which will be tabled on November 2.

PAS MP Mas Fadhli Shaari said the Islamist party was not in any of the committees but will cooperate with Umno in giving focus towards the budget.

“After PH’s victory in GE14, it seems that the government’s leadership is trying its best not to implement its manifesto promises,” he said. – October 15, 2018.