KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will likely appoint a Cabinet that mirrors the performance of Pakatan Harapan parties in the general election, KUASA’s Praba Ganesan said.
The head of the democracy outreach organisation and former media strategist for PKR said this would determine how the prime minister will allocate the 10 key ministries among PPBM, DAP, PKR, Amanah and the aligned Warisan.
“It is not going to be easy to predict who gets what portfolios but my prediction is that DAP gets three; PKR, PPBM and Amanah get two seats each; while one will most likely go to Warisan to show a balanced composition, or at least for now,” he told Malay Mail.
He suggested that DAP federal lawmakers Tony Pua (Damansara), P. Kulasegaran (Ipoh Barat) and Hannah Yeoh (Segambut) would likely be tapped for ministerial roles.
Kulasegaran could be dropped in the event DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng chooses to go Putrajaya instead of returning to Penang as chief minister, he said.
On PKR’s side, Praba predicted that the choice would be from between Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah (Indera Makhota), Wong Chen (Subang), Dr Xavier Jeyakumar (Kuala Langat), Sivarasa Rasiah (Sungai Buloh) and Sarawak-based Baru Bian (Selangau).
He tipped former deputy minister Saifuddin to be the most likely to be given a place in the Cabinet.
“Amanah president Mohamad Sabu (Kota Raja) will most likely be given a seat. I just cannot pinpoint who would join him,” he said.
He predicted that the choices were down to Dzulkefly Ahmad (Kuala Selangor), Mujahid Yusof Rawa (Parit Buntar), Mahfuz Omar (Pokok Sena), Salahuddin Ayub (Pulai) or Khalid Samad (Shah Alam).
As for portfolios, geopolitical expert Azmi Hassan believed Saifuddin would likely be made education minister given he was formerly a deputy minister in the same area.
“For the Foreign Ministry, I think Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is the appropriate candidate,” he said, adding the Home Ministry as another possibility.
“As for the critical finance portfolio, it’s a toss-up between Tony Pua and Nga Kor Ming. Johari Abdul should head the Defence Ministry,” he said.
On the East Malaysian side, Praba said Warisan deputy president Darrell Leiking will likely be chosen in Dr Mahathir’s 10-man Cabinet to represent the region.
A Sarawak Pakatan Harapan source earlier predicted for Baru and state PH chief Chong Chieng Jen to be appointed as ministers.
Dr Mahathir said yesterday that 10 portfolios must be urgently filled.
These were Finance, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Education, Rural Development, Economy, Public Works, Transport, and Multimedia, Science and Technology.
