ZAHID: NO SHADOW CABINET
We don’t want a cabinet of empty dreams, says opposition leader
THE opposition will not form a shadow cabinet but instead allocate portfolios to its members of parliament to focus on specific subjects.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the MPs would then raise the issues in Dewan Rakyat.
“We have a list of MPs from Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pas to focus on certain portfolios.
“The MPs were given portfolios in areas they are knowledgeable in. We can see how they have been executing them in the debate sessions,” he said.
He added that the MPs were free to raise other issues based on their research and expertise.
“They are free to touch on other issues as we want to be a constructive opposition.”
Zahid, who is Bagan Datuk MP, said the opposition decided not to have a shadow cabinet as it did not want to end up as a “kabinet angan-angan” (cabinet of empty dreams).
On Saturday, former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said BN was ready to take proactive steps to be an effective opposition to the Pakatan Harapan government.
The Rembau MP said one of the major moves that BN had in the pipeline was the formation of a shadow cabinet.
In a post on his Twitter page, Khairy said everything was in place and an official announcement would be made by the opposition leadership.
“We’ve been given our portfolios. Leader should just announce and ask government for formal recognition of shadow cabinet, like Westminster,” he tweeted, in reference to the United Kingdom’s Westminster system of government.
The shadow cabinet consists of opposition leaders in which each mirrors the position of each individual member in the cabinet line-up.