Analysts: Umno-heavy Cabinet reflects Najib’s party polls focus, could affect reforms
“Well definitely he is seeking re-election this year and that will be reflected in his Umno Cabinet line-up. You can see him strategising for re-election but how is he to do that leaves a question mark because most of them are just old-timers,” he said, adding that the names announced have been in government for a very long time, even if not at Putrajaya’s highest decision-making level.”
By Amin Iskandar, Debra Chong and Syed Jaymal Zahiid, TMI
Umno’s domination of the 2013 Cabinet shows Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s desire to shore up his personal support ahead of party polls but at the expense of the prime minister’s national reform measures, several observers say.
While the pundits hold grave reservations over the large number of veterans in the 32-man Cabinet, they said Najib deserves a chance to prove he can deliver on his promised government and economic transformation agenda once he has secured his party presidency.
The Umno president had cast 17 of his party colleagues in ministerial positions when naming members of his Cabinet yesterday. Of the line-up, most were old government hands being switched around or promoted with the exception of new faces Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.
Universiti Putra Malaysia political scientist Prof Jayum A. Jawan was sceptical about the changes that Najib could make with what the don branded a “conservative” Cabinet.
“I don’t see a real power-sharing here. The positions of power are all held by Umno like Finance, Home Affairs and Defence,” he said.
“Well definitely he is seeking re-election this year and that will be reflected in his Umno Cabinet line-up. You can see him strategising for re-election but how is he to do that leaves a question mark because most of them are just old-timers,” he said, adding that the names announced have been in government for a very long time, even if not at Putrajaya’s highest decision-making level.”
Like the other pundits, Jayum viewed Khairy’s inclusion as a positive step towards getting youth support, but noted the move was unlikely to be sufficient to parry a possible challenge in the party polls.
“Some people in Umno are already saying that Najib would not see a smooth re-election and that there are some people that will likely challenge him,” he said.
But such an Umno-studded cast was “clever”, according to William Case, a professor in Asian and International Studies at the University of Hong Kong.
“My take is that while many critics are dismissing the Cabinet as made up most of old hacks, I see it as more mixed, possibly in clever ways, as it includes Najib’s personal supporters, reformers, and nativists,” he told The Malaysian Insider in an emailed response yesterday.
There has been speculation that Najib, 59, is likely to face a challenge to his presidency from within Umno in the party ballot due this year for failing to return BN’s two-thirds supermajority in the May 5 general election despite improving the Malay party’s number of federal seats to 88.
