Change Malaysians believe in
(The Malaysian Insider) KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak will have little choice but to break convention and look beyond yesterday’s winning Umno candidates when naming his Cabinet next month.
Nearly all of the new supreme council members are pockmarked with accusations of corruption, chauvinism, sexual harassment and sexism. Several of them, ministers in Abdullah’s much-maligned Cabinet, have a more serious charge to answer: mediocrity.
The list of winners from Wednesday and yesterday were Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein, Datuk Shafie Apdal, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, Datuk Noh Omar, Datuk Musa Aman, Datuk Azian Osman, Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman, Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin, Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor, Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi, Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, Datuk Idris Haron, Datuk Dr Abd Latiff Ahmad, Datuk Seri Jamaludin Jarjis, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, Datuk Dr Norraesah Mohamad, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, Datuk Ahmad Husni Mohd Hanadzlah, Datuk Hamzah Zainudin, Datuk Bung Moktar Radin, Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin, Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique, Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, Datuk Shahrizat Jalil and Khairy Jamaluddin.
The fact is, save for a clutch, all of them are known quantities. Malaysians know these individuals very well, perhaps too well given the ready access to the Internet.
A few of them have had a stab at being ministers and have not distinguished themselves. Names such as Noh Omar, Ismail Sabri, Mohd Zin and Zulhasnan come to mind.
Several other supreme council members have made a name for themselves for all the wrong reasons. Tajudin Rahman, Puad and Bung Moktar are the posters boys of boorish behaviour in Parliament. They are heroes in the ruling party, earning kudos for standing up to the resurgent Opposition in Parliament. But they epitomise many of the qualities non-Malays find unattractive about Umno.
And this is the core of the problem facing Najib today. His party has a different value system than the rest of the country. Nearly every candidate at this year’s party elections used money or some other form of inducement to buy votes.
Many of the winning candidates received the support of the 2,500 delegates not because they were overflowing with charisma or because they possessed a stellar track record. They understood what motivated the party delegates and duly obliged.
The Malaysian Insider has learnt that Najib plans to make significant changes to the Cabinet. The defeat of Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, Datuk Shahrir Samad, Datuk Azalina Othman Said and Datuk Rais Yatim has made the job easier for him.
But the wins for Noh Omar, Shaziman, Mohd Zin, Zulhasnan, Khairy and Shahrizat have added a few complications. He will now have to tell some of the winners the hard truth: that there is no place in the Cabinet for them.They may be given positions in government-linked companies and compensated in other ways.
If Najib really wants to convince Malaysians that he is serious about change, he will have to go outside his party, appoint six or seven individuals with unblemished records to the Senate and fast track them to his Cabinet. He has little choice because the crop of talent on show in Umno does not inspire confidence or have the wow factor.
