Sin Chew Daily

Prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said he would have an audience with His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong and then announce the cabinet line-up within this week.

He has also stressed that he will not form a unity government, meaning none of the 105 opposition MPs will join his cabinet.

Last week, His Majesty said the winner will not win all and the loser will not lose all. And under the new political landscape, it is hoped that the new prime minister will put up a united new cabinet and end political fighting while prioritizing the well-being of the rakyat and the national recovery agenda.

If we were to decipher His Majesty’s decress, it is not wholly unlikely for the new PM to set up a unity government, but this has been squarely denied by Ismail Sabri. So, we won’t have a unity government for now.

Although there are as many as 70 ministerial and deputy ministerial positions in the cabinet, BN and PN are eyeing for these positions. Ismail Sabri has said he would consider streamlining his cabinet, then how do we expect him to offer a couple of cabinet positions to the opposition?

Owing to political stand and principle, sure enough the opposition may not be willing to accept any offer of government posts from Ismail, not only to save their own dignity but also to answer to the voters who voted for them in the last election.

On Sunday, the PM offered in a televised speech to cooperate with the opposition in a bid to save this country in his “Keluarga Malaysia” advocacy. He also invited the opposition to join the national recovery council (MPN) and a special committee to address the COVID-19 crisis, so that they could share their views to advance the national recovery plan.

In view of this, the PH presidential council has said the coalition would adopt a “big tent” concept based on its reform agenda and the people’s interests to cooperate with opposition or ruling parties and will continue to discharge their duties in the parliament by providing constructive and responsible suggestions to the ruling coalition, overseeing and checking the government.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and PKR’s communications chief Fahmi Fadzil share the consistent view that all forms of cooperation must be for the well-being of the people and not as an endorsement of government policies.

If parties on both sides of the political divide are willing to set aside their ideological differences to work together for the interest of the people and dutifully play their respective roles, that we call true democratic spirit.

Their cooperation should not be confined to the distribution of political powers only, but with the people’s interest as their priority. This is what bring us back to the very essence of democratic politics.

The new prime minister has a momentous responsibility to shoulder. He not only needs to seek the cooperation of the opposition, but also to face the dissidents within his own camp.

First and foremost, he will have to try to consolidate his hold to power and liberate himself from the intervention of the “seniors” in his party Umno, which is itself a very tough problem for him. Then what about the court cases of Ahmad Zahid and Najib which he is going to confront very soon?

Secondly, he now enjoys the support of 114 MPs mainly from Umno, Bersatu, PAS and GPS of Sarawak. The DPM post alone is fiercely contested by Bersatu, Umno and GPS, not to mention dozens of other cabinet positions.

We can understand that he will keep the last cabinet largely unchanged, but to trim the size of the new cabinet is much easier said than done. We will see whether he meant business when he delivered the speech on TV on Sunday.

Thirdly, the ravaging pandemic and economy are two huge headaches that will welcome him at the PM’s office. As such, inviting the opposition to join in the government’s effort to fight the virus and to revitalize the economy is a very wise strategy. If the plan succeeds, he will win public approval for getting the right people to work with him for the well-being of the rakyat. And if it fails, at least he can drag the opposition down with him instead of taking all the blame himself.

A massive opportunity is now laid before Ismail Sabri. As Malaysians have grown increasingly disgusted at political fights, he should have no problem sailing past the hurdles rather smoothly in the near term. Next we will see how he is going to leave his mark in history as the country’s ninth prime minister.