Ismail Sabri’s inane, recycled cabinet – P. Gunasegaram

[superadmin]

LOOKS like the main thing that bothered Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob when he pondered the cabinet was who to make his deputy, given the threat hanging over him from Senior International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, who reportedly threatened to pull support if he was not given the position.

A puzzling new appointment to a recycled cabinet with hardly any new faces was that of – surprise, surprise – Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, a person who faced molestation charges against an underaged girl, who was made Federal Territories minister. More on that later. First, back to the issue of the deputy prime minister, or the lack of one.

If Ismail Sabri did not appoint anyone from Bersatu as deputy prime minister, then not just Azmin and his cohorts would pull out, but possibly, all Bersatu MPs, which would leave the prime minister high, dry and stranded. He was in quite a pickle for if he did not appoint anyone from Umno, offence would be taken from that quarter.

The only consolation and saving grace for that was main opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan had offered to support him in a confidence vote, which is a big thing because that amounts to 88 seats from PKR, DAP and Amanah, the three PH partners.


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