PRIME Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad addressed the apparent discord within Pakatan Harapan over the naming of three core cabinet members yesterday, saying that appointments were for the prime minister to decide on after studying the candidates and consulting their party heads.

In a special address broadcast live on TV1 this afternoon, he said disagreements between parties over cabinet appointments was inevitable.

“This will be determined by the prime minister. The PM will study the candidates named by each of the component parties, and will make the decision on who is to hold which ministry. 

“The PM, if needed, will call each of the four party heads to get more information about their primary choices, and if these are not met, then why this candidate is being chosen to hold a certain ministry,” he said.

Dr Mahathir had announced DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng as finance minister, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin as home minister and Amanah president Mohamed Sabu as defence minister.

PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is deputy prime minister, as agreed to by all parties in the pact prior to GE14.

Dr Mahathir’s announcement was later rebuffed by PKR president Rafizi Ramli and backed by the party’s Subang MP Wong Chen. Rafizi said the three appointments did not have PKR’s consent and that talks were still ongoing, while Wong said PKR, as the party that won the most seats among the PH parties, should have been given a core cabinet post.

Reports also surfaced today that PKR representatives did not stay on through a PH meeting yesterday prior to the announcement. 

Dr Mahathir said that decisions made by the PH cabinet would be done by majority vote as consensus cannot always be reached.

“We will use the majority rule, because if we try to do it by consensus, we will not be able to make any decisions at all. So this is how we will start our administration,” the PH chairman said.

He announced that the complete PH cabinet would not have more than 30 ministers.

In the coming week, he said PH aimed to decide on 10 cabinet portfolios. 

“Each party will have more representatives, some parties less, but this will depend on the proportion, but if we find that the party is not having their proportions then the additions will come up from when we determine the 25-member cabinet. 

“But we will have the space if we have the cooperation from Sabah and Sarawak and hence, they will nominate their candidates to join the cabinet, and at that point, the cabinet numbers will be more than what we have now, but our intention is not to be more than 30.” 

He said that he would be meeting the secretaries-general of all ministries tomorrow to brief them on the new government. – May 13, 2018