Najib's Cabinet.

9.4.2009.

7 a.m., Thursday 9 April. I got up at 5, which is early, but I always get up at 5 - so that by 7.15 I'm already at the tee-box. To-day I got up at 5 to wake Dekna up because she came back last night to visit me, her sick father, and she has classes this morning in Shah Alam. Also, I wanted to check up on the Augusta Masters' goings-on. So at 11 a.m. Najib meets the Agong, and at 3 p.m. we'll know the new line-up.

The new Cabinet has been the talk of the town. As many have said, this is a favourite Malaysian past time. A lot has been said. A lot of unwanted suggestions have been made. Directly to Najib, indirectly to Najib, and generally directed to anyone willing to listen, all giving their 10 sen's worth, including yours truly. 

A lot of suggestions have been attributed to a lot of people. Dependending on your inclinations, these have been welcomed, villified or rubbished. My one advice to Najib is don't include Rosmah. Just let her look after the house cabinets. 

The new line up will not make or break the PM. It never has. The moment someone is put in, he's not going to publicly pursue his own course of action that's different from the PM's. In fact even if he's had a different direction before, he's bound to change course and align himself accordingly. That's what has unfailingly happened before.

The Cabinet also cannot enhance the PM's agenda. The PM will have to pull himself by his shoe strings. That's also what has always happened before. That's the UMNO dominated Cabinet for you.

Najib, however, can make his job look more palatable to the interested rakyat if he makes daring choices to send strong signals of his intentions to have a paradigm shift in how UMNO will lead the government through these troubled times. 

The UMNO GA is over, and that's party's business. Now it's time to govern, and that's the rakyat's business. Of course the UMNO GA must be considered by Najib, but in selecting his Cabinet he shouldn't constrain himself. He can pick the best from the nation, not the best from a much maligned political party. And Dollah can keep his mouth shut because he also did not let  Rafidah's election win interfere with his Cabinet selection. 

All this talk about being lean and losing weight - this is not a weight-watchers session ! If you reduce the Ministers, does it mean there'll be more load ? It could  mean more assisstants to add to the ladders of murky decision-makings, and they're not going to face the music every Wednesday. Let there be many Ministers who will lighten the PM's load but answer to him week in week out. This will also allow more party office-bearers to become responsible government officials and learn the trade by dirtying their hands - in the long run good for the party leadership pool.  Forget Singapore - theirs is a one-party state that can be run by Lee Kuan Yew all by himself (if not already so). Just look at NS, both during Isa and Mat Hassan's time. A lot of posts are either not filled or filled by family members. The loss is, and they obviously don't see this, two-way. Divisional Heads who carry votes are not given the opportunity to develop by occupying these already existing posts, such as Political Secretary, Press Secretary and so forth. Secondly, party support from the divisions is not cultivated, a loss to the State Leader. Isa became gun-shy when the late political secretary went against him. Mat Hassan has his own reasons for denying another Ketua Bahagian who can help him win votes when he made his own brother as the secretary of the State Liason Committee. And you wonder why so many MB's lost at the last UMNO GA ? 

To pick a clean slate, pick clean Ministers. Clean is subjective. So is life. Pick the cleanest among the unclean, then.

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