It’s highly likely that Malaysia’s 10th Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim seleacts UMNO President Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as one of the two deputy prime ministers for his government under the new cabinet line-up.
Sources told BusinessToday that Anwar’s Cabinet will comprise of 25 members with two deputy prime ministers.
“The reality is that Ahmad Zahid helped Anwar to become PM and it needs to be certified. He is also the only individual who can help retain BN’s 30 seats, give Anwar the freedom to choose his deputy and Cabinet. If it doesn’t work, just throw them out,” the source said.
“Every coalition or bloc that joined Anwar made their request but he explained that it was a small Cabinet so he needed to ensure that those elected could retain their supporters. Only Zahid for BN. No one can perform that task,”
However, the UMNO President was a controversial choice and became the target of political enemies and voters. Even during GE15, he almost lost his stronghold in Bagan Datuk when he won narrowly, with an advantage of 348 votes.
Not only that, Barisan Nasional (BN) also recorded the worst result in the history of the 15th General Election (GE15) when it only won 30 parliamentary seats.
Apart from Ahmad Zahid, the other BN candidate mentioned is Barisan Nasional deputy chairman and Rembau Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan, although he once said that BN needs to be neutral and remain as the opposition in the competition to form the government.
It is also understood that Anwar has until this weekend to submit the list of names to Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah.
It has also been said that a second deputy prime minister is likely to be from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), because according to Anwar, he named two people for the position which is a political convention and not according to the provisions of the constitution.
Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof is also likely to take the position as his extensive experience in federal administration makes the Petra Jaya MP the only candidate from Sarawak who has been named to fill the post of deputy prime minister in the unity government.
Appointed as deputy science, technology and innovation minister in 2008, Fadillah was promoted as works minister in 2013. His position as senior works minister in then prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s cabinet since Aug 30 last year strengthens the argument that he is qualified to hold the No. 2 position in the federal government.
A Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) source revealed that since the announcement by Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional to appoint deputy prime ministers from Sarawak and Sabah before the 15th General Election, Fadillah’s name has been touted by the Sarawak coalition to fill the position.
