Is Pakatan ready to helm the nation?
Oleh Erna Mohd Yusoff
erna@themalaysiantimes.com.my
Kuala Lumpur: Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has earlier been taunted of failing to list of leaders who will lead the Cabinet should they conquer Putrajaya. Many are rumored of saying that the party is not ready to helm the government.
In retaliating to this, a media portal had recently published an article entitled “Pakatan’s Shadow Cabinet” which lists the names of PR leaders who will hold the ministries in the Government should they with in the coming 13th General Election (GE).
The party’s action of listing between two to five candidates for each ministry which only needs one representative, is seen as being rhetoric. Sungai Panjang state assemblyman, Dato’ Seri Mohamad Khir bin Toyo said, this shadow cabinet only shows that they have not made a definitive decision of their representatives in the cabinet.
“If we look at the list of names provided, each Ministry has more than one representative from Pakatan. This only shows that PR is still undecided on their government,” he said when speaking to The Malaysian Times (TMT).
He also added that the shadow cabinet is a merely set as an avenue in gaining votes from the non-Malay community.
“That is not Pakatan’s Cabinet. It is only a Cabinet set to gain non-Malay votes. Anwar and other Pakatan leaders are gathering support from the non-Malays by promising stronger seats for their leaders as they know that many Malay voters are already leaning towards Barisan Nasional (BN),” Khir Toyo said.
He also said the list which contains the names of each party representative is done to avoid any misunderstanding among them.
“They (PR) have deliberately listed more than one name in order to avoid dissatisfaction from certain individuals which could cause them from leaving the party. This would instead create havoc within the party and the Government will be left in chaos should Pakatan win as each leader would demand for what they were promised,” he said.
TMT also contacted Kubang Kerian member of Parliament (MP), Salahuddin Ayub of PAS to get his view on this issue. He said that the list shadow cabinet published in the media does not reflect the official list set by PR leaders.
“The list only shows the list of Pakatan leaders and not the official shadow cabinet. I do not know who generated the list. It could be an analysis published based on the evaluation done within the party,” said Salahuddin.
He stressed that Pakatan is set to conquer Putrajaya, however, an official shadow cabinet list will only be done during the party’s council meeting scheduled to be held soon. A shadow cabinet is a vital part of a party.
Although it may not take place, cooperation from all party members are needed in ensuring that the shadow cabinet turns into reality. It highlights a party’s strength and it’s credibility as a ruling party.
