KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — Datuk Salahuddin Ayub today disagreed with views suggesting most of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Cabinet ministers were merely the ‘weaker teammates’ of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, saying every leader has been working round the clock since taking over government to realise the aspired changes.
The Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister said there has been no research that showed any empirical findings to suggest the Cabinet is made of weak ministers.
In his defence, Salahuddin said many ministers, including himself, were assigned portfolios they were not particularly fluent with, but had to learn along the way.
“I personally feel as the Agro minister, I realised we started from zero so we have to show that we are able to work, that’s all.
“Don’t sleep at home, don’t commit misappropriation, don’t take bribes; but show what our plans is.
“At the very least, I can show the people that this is my direction, this is my way forward, this is my blood, my tears, my struggles, so I will hold on to this,” he said while raising the ministry’s Strategy and Guidelines 2019-2020 booklet.
He was responding to questions that the public has a perception that only Dr Mahathir is able to govern and the PH cabinet were seen as weak links weighing the Prime Minister down.
Salahuddin said he was confident in convincing the people that PH is a worthy administration, by saying less and working more.
“Let our actions speak louder and at the end of the day let the people judge us; what is important to me is we do our work,” he said during a press conference at the Farmers’ Organisation Authority (LPP) building in the capital today.
Salahuddin added that good governance comes with discipline, transparency, and being brave enough to restructure government agencies and bodies that have seen leakages.
