New cabinet ministers should be given time to prove abilities

KUALA LUMPUR: The newlyappointed Cabinet ministers should be given a reasonable timeframe to prove their abilities, says International Islamic University of Malaysia ( IIUM) Associate Professor Dr Shamrahayu Abdul Aziz.

She said this was due to the fact that apart from Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, other newlyappointed ministers had no prior experience of governing the country.

“For instance, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has been in the opposition seat for 20 years and only now, she experiences administering the country firsthand.

“There are also those who have been elected as first time MP (members of parliament) and given a big responsibility (as Cabinet minister) such as Dr Maszlee Malik ( Education Minister) and Rina Harun ( Rural Development Minister), so give them time to learn,” she told Bernama here yesterday.

She said the Pakatan Harapanruled Government’s approach thus far, was seen as positive as it was not in a hurry to overhaul and abolish the previous government’s programmes which were beneficial to the people.

“It takes into account the good policies that have been implemented and this is highly appreciated by the civil servants involved.

“The people are also happy because the new government is not merely changing things around... whichever is good, to be continued and improved,” she said.

Community activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the people should be patient to see any reforms as the newly-appointed ministers needed to obtain relevant information from agencies under their ministry first.

Lee also stressed that the success of the implementation of new ideas or policies by the ministers relied heavily on civil servants.

“Public servants must carry out their duties with integrity, commitment and implement their respective agency’s objectives well,” he said.

New Cabinet ministers who reported for duty yesterday included Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

Other ministers were Rural Development Minister Rina Mohd Harun, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik, Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin and Transport Minister Anthony Loke. — Bernama