Anwar powerless to sideline Umno court cluster from Cabinet appointments, says analyst

The prime minister typically is the one who can appoint the Cabinet members, Anwar Ibrahim may find his hands tied because of agreements with other parties to form a government, according to an analyst.

According to MalaysiaNow, Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said the current government is not an Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration rather, it was a government that would not have been able to come into existence without the backing of coalitions such as Barisan Nasional (BN), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).

Anwar is unable to determine who will be the representative of BN Anwar is unable to determine who will represent BN, he said. Should BN determines Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should be the deputy prime minister, Anwar will have to agree to it. If he does not, he'll be accused of not delivering to their arrangement.

Anwar was elected premier last week following receiving, among other things the backing by BN along with its 30-MPs. Then he said the government would take all viewpoints into account before forming a team to lead the nation. Certain, such as the watchdog for elections Bersih has cautioned against including persons currently being investigated in the courtroom,report by play online casino malaysia.

Bersih strongly opposes the appointment of anyone who is currently facing a criminal case against them to any Cabinet post as they will raise doubts regarding the legitimacy of the government of Anwar and undermine the reputation of our nation, Bersih said yesterday, saying that PH leaders like Lim Guaneng and Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman shouldn't be part of the Cabinet.

Zahid, who was able to defend the Bagan Datuk seat with a small majority of just 348 votes, was cleared of 40 corruption-related charges relating to the system of foreign visas which is a decision the prosecutor's are pursuing against. In addition, he is facing another 47 charges of breach of trust that is criminal connected to the charity foundation Yayasan Akalbudi.

Lim however, is facing corruption charges in relation to Lim's corruption charges in relation to the RM6.3 billion Penang tunnel undersea project and Syed Saddiq has been told to join his defense in a breach of trust trial that could cost RM1 million. Anwar recently declared that people weren't guilty until proved guilty, in response to requests to exclude the MPs who are facing corruption accusations from his next Cabinet.

There is speculation about whether Zahid is likely to be named his deputy, and another member of parliament to be chosen by GPS. Zahid is not the only one, BN deputy chairman Mohamad Hasan who is an MP from Rembau is also being considered as a possible candidate. Mazlan stated that the reputation of Anwar as well as that of his government could be affected to a certain extent if a situation like this occurred.

But, he stated that the issue of principle should take an off-hand position since the prime minister does not have the absolute authority. According according to PH manifesto the coalition will not tolerate any person who has doubts about their legitimacy to be a an official in the government. But Anwar will have to put this aside and examine other issues in the manifesto which can be put into practice, he said.

In his capacity as Umno president, Zahid said, Zahid was in a extremely strong position because of the pledges of support that he obtained from the MPs that provided him with the authority to choose the people BN would choose to nominate for Cabinet positions. If the president decides to make himself available as the deputy prime minister who would be courageous enough to stand against him? He said.