THE appointment of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to deputy prime minister is in contradiction to the prime minister’s promise of good governance, the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) said today.

Ideas CEO Tricia Yeoh said Anwar Ibrahim’s decision to include Zahid in the cabinet despite his pending corruption court case is perplexing. 

“The appointment of Zahid as DPM holding a strategic portfolio sends the wrong signal from a government that has vowed to adhere to the principles of good governance. 

“While (the rule of) innocent until proven guilty and exhausting all appeals (allows one to keep) a seat in parliament, the members of cabinet should be held to a higher standard,” she said in a statement today. 

This is crucial to ensure public confidence and trust in the government, she said.

Yeoh said the prime minister taking on the dual role of finance minister is also inconsistent with the principles of good governance, which Anwar has declared as the core agenda of the unity government. 

“The commitment to separate the portfolios was clearly made in the previous Pakatan Harapan election manifesto,” said Yeoh. 

She said the 1MDB corruption scandal was partly facilitated by the fact that one person had held these two important positions. 

“The past three administrations have tried to reverse this tradition by allowing separation of power between the prime minister and the minister of finance. 

“While it is understandably politically difficult to name a finance minister in a unity government, it is necessary for the roles to be separated for checks and balances.”

Yeoh said Anwar should commit to finding a suitable finance minister who can deliver transparency and accountability.

She said the new finance minister must also oversee monetary reforms such as the fiscal responsibility act which has been stalled for some time.

Yeoh said Anwar had kept his promise to keep a leaner cabinet. 

“We also see better representation of women, youth and regions in the current line-up. This is reflected in the five ministerial posts with five female politicians, four youth politicians, and six Borneo representatives, including the DPM. 

“However, we hope that the PM will not follow the previous administration’s move to appoint deputy ministers and special envoys with ministerial ranks to appease various political factions and make the cabinet size unnecessarily large,” said Yeoh.

She also said Perikatan Nasional must play the role of an effective and fair opposition.

“They should execute their plan to form a shadow cabinet soon to be involved constructively in policy-making. 

“(By doing so) Perikatan Nasional will do a great service to the nation by not only providing mechanisms of checks and balances to the government, but also by moving the current public narrative away from divisive political propaganda.”

Anwar presented his 28-member cabinet yesterday, which includes two deputy prime ministers, one of whom is Zahid.

Lawmakers who had lost their seats in the general election were also among his selections. – December 3, 2022.