The Civil Government S Cabinet Breakdown Is At A Crossroads

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The resignations of two senior PKR ministers — Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad — have seen the Madani coalition government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim now face a critical moment. It is between maintaining cabinet stability and dealing with opposition claims that the unity government is losing direction and political cohesion. While the country is still digesting the impact of the resignation, the situation became more complicated when Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz announced his departure from Umno — but continued to remain as a minister in Anwar's cabinet. Between leave and resignation: Which way is PKR going? An internal source in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) met by Malaysiakini stated that the future of Rafizi and Nik Nazmi is still under discussion, with efforts being made to persuade both of them to stay on. "We have to look again at the PMO (Prime Minister's Office) statement. The Prime Minister only approved Rafizi and Nik Nazmi's leave applications. The resignation letters have not been approved. In fact, they are still under discussion. "What I can confirm is that there are still efforts to persuade Rafizi and Nik Nazmi to remain in the cabinet. As I said, Rafizi and Nik are currently on vacation. "So, there is a chance for them to return. If, they return then there is no need for a cabinet reshuffle. "I expect, this December there will be a small cabinet reshuffle. So, the prime minister may not be interested in doing two reshuffles in a year. So, the best thing for him is to try to keep Rafizi and Nik Nazmi," the source said. However, the source admitted that the possibility of them remaining in Madani's cabinet is very slim. On May 28, Rafizi announced that he had sent his resignation letter from the cabinet following his failure to defend the position of PKR deputy president he held. According to him, the resignation will be effective on June 17 until he finishes the rest of his annual leave on June 16. Following in his footsteps, is Nik Nazmi who failed to defend the position of vice president in the PKR election. He said his resignation will be on July 4 while he is on leave from May 29 to July 3. Internal dissatisfaction However, several political observers believe that the resignation after the defeat in the party election is not a coincidence, but rather a signal of strategic misunderstanding within PKR and dissatisfaction with the direction of the administration. "If two influential young leaders in PKR themselves have lost confidence in remaining in the cabinet, that is not small news. “It’s an internal signal,” said an analyst who declined to be named. Elaborating further, the PMO source said there are three main scenarios being considered by Anwar. “The first possibility, as I said before, is that Rafizi and Nik Nazmi will remain. The second, if Rafizi and Nik Nazmi insist on leaving, Anwar may have to appoint a new figure. “In this scenario, Tengku Zafrul remains as a minister, but as a representative of PKR. "The Ministry of Economy may be reduced in scope and placed under the Ministry of Finance (MoF) or the Prime Minister's Department (JPM)," he said. There is also speculation that the economy ministry will be handed over to Umno, as a rebalancing of power in the unity government. However, it should be noted that Senator Zafrul's term in office will end in mid-December after two terms - the maximum limit for a senator. The role of technocrats Zafrul's position raises bigger questions about the role of technocrats in the coalition administration. Furthermore, he is now said to be "scouting" a place in PKR and potentially getting a new portfolio. The Ministry of Economy was created in 2018 after Pakatan Harapan formed the federal government. At that time, it was known as the Ministry of Economic Affairs and was held by then PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali. Previously, the ministry was a portfolio under the JPM and the main agency for this portfolio was the Economic Planning Unit (EPU). "Nik Nazmi's portfolio (original source) may be taken over by an Umno representative to maintain political balance in the government. “With that, Umno will remain with the current seven ministers as requested by Umno President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi," the source said. Previously, Umno had seven ministers, but following Zafrul's departure from the party, it was left with only six ministers. Thus, Zahid's insistence on the seven seats opens up a challenging bargaining space for Anwar: either to meet Umno's demands, or to maintain PKR's dominance in the cabinet — which is now clearly shaky.

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