Clearly Not A Cabinet For All Malaysians

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In a multiracial country, the composition of a cabinet must take into account the interests of all races. It must reflect the inescapable reality that there are many people of diverse cultures and faiths that go into the making of a nation
In Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's country, this incontrovertible fact has been ignored when he presented his cabinet to the people: it is packed mostly with Malays, with a sprinkling of non-Malays here and there
The make-up of the cabinet is in line with PAS politics of exclusiveness, where all the top important posts must be held by Malays. The rationale behind its thinking is that absolute power must always be absolutely in the hands of the Malays
It is not surprising that Muhyiddin showed his Malay-ness in the choice of his ministers and deputy ministers. He once said he is Malay first and Malaysian second, although he now trumpets that he is the prime minister for all Malaysians
But there is no mistaking that he will pursue his Malay agenda with vigour and determination, powered by PAS' own inflexible, dogmatic doctrines. In the next three years, the country might see the non-Malays pushed to a far corner, with practically no say in their own affairs
Muhyiddin is merely returning to the practices of the past where all the crucially important portfolios were dominated by the Malays. For many years, this had been the hallmark of Umno rule, with poor results to show in the end
Granted that Dr Mahathir Mohamad had also filled his cabinet with Malays during his first term as prime minister. But he departed from that tradition when he chose non-Malays for some top posts in the cabinet and government bodies in his second stint as prime minister
The Pakatan Harapan-led cabinet was a refreshing change, with able non-Malay ministers doing a good job of trying to pull the country together in a very challenging climate
But PAS and Umno, together with other rabid followers, did not see it that way. Throughout the brief Harapan reign, they were only mourning the loss of Malay power, and doing everything in their power to bring down the popularly-elected government
With Muhyiddin now in charge, glory days seem to be back for his coalition partners Umno and PAS. True to form, the new commander crafted a Malay-centric cabinet, with a crack crew of Malay advisers around him. Umno is back and is greedy for more seats in the cabinet and PAS gets to establish a foothold in the federal government
What policies would Muhyiddin and his band of ministerial colleagues pursue? It would not be off the mark to state that their affirmative programmes and projects would mainly satisfy the needs of one race
Controversial decisions would be made that would raise howls of protests from the other ethnic groups, and invariably their complaints would be ignored or silenced or shouted down
Muhyiddin's cabinet is perpetuating the belief, or more likely the myth, that if power is not concentrated in the hands of the Malays, justice would not have been served. Thus the cabinet must showcase Malay power
In the unfolding Muhyiddin era, one can expect to see very little faith placed in cross-fertilisation: the mixing of ideas of different races to produce better results. A multiracial cabinet with non-Malays occupying key posts would encourage a healthy exchange of ideas and proposals. Such a set-up would yield positive results and benefit all Malaysians. Race and religion would have no place in this equation at all
This would call forth a leap of faith, which, unfortunately, no Malay leaders would want to take. So, Malaysia would continue to be stuck with the old mindset, giving undue weight to the politics of race and religion. All ambitious dreams to revitalise the economy would be stymied by one-sided approaches and discriminatory policies
If only, for once, the slogan of "Malay supremacy" is discarded and people begin to think out of the box, then it would be possible to open new exciting vistas of enduring peaceful cooperation and prosperity
From here, it would not be impossible to even have a non-Malay as prime minister for all - which would truly be a historic Malaysian experience
PHLIP RODRIGUES is a retired journalist. - Mkini

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