Malaysia’s PM Anwar Ibrahim to helm finance ministry, names corruption-haunted Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as DPM

Ahmad Zahid, a former deputy PM and key ally of jailed ex-leader Najib Razak, will be the country’s No 2 leader
Anwar’s cabinet announcement comes 10 days after his appointment and amid intense jockeying for top positions among parties in his ‘unity government’

Malaysia

Joseph SipalanandHadi Azmi

Published: 8:25pm, 2 Dec 2022

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Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Friday unveiled a new cabinet that included the corruption-haunted Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as the country’s No 2 leader, indicative of compromises struck to keep the fragile administration intact.

Anwar, 75, named himself finance minister – a position he held for seven years in the 1990s before he was plunged into political wilderness and jailed following a fallout with then leader Mahathir Mohamad.

Alongside Ahmad Zahid, Fadillah Yusof, a member of the GPS coalition from the state of Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo, was also named deputy premier – keeping with Anwar’s promise to give the high-ranking positions to his two most powerful allies.

Fadillah is the country’s first deputy prime minister from Malaysian Borneo.

Ahmad Zahid will concurrently serve as Rural and Regional Development Minister, while Fadillah will also serve as Plantations and Commodities Minister.

Anwar said his new administration would be singularly focused on tackling citizens’ cost-of-living woes. Photo: Malaysia PMO/AP

The new cabinet, comprising 28 ministers in total, will be sworn in by the king on Saturday. The total number of ministers is lower than the 31 officials in the cabinet of Anwar’s predecessor, Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The three main alliances in the government, Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH), Ahmad Zahid’s Barisan Nasional (BN) and Fadillah’s GPS, constitute the “pillars” of the new administration, the prime minister said.

He added that he had the backing of other MPs, giving his administration the support of two-thirds of parliament. “This mandate gave us confidence to set up a cabinet line-up that is strong and works as a team, and is focused on accelerating fresh economic growth and the problems of the people,” Anwar said.

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Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, a long-time Anwar confidante and key member of the prime minister’s PH alliance, will be home minister – a highly influential position with remit over the police, immigration and registry of societies. Past Malaysian home ministers have faced accusations of using the government machinery to throttle dissenters.

Anthony Loke of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) – a PH constituent party – will be Transport Minister. The defence ministry will be helmed by Mohamad Hasan, who is the deputy leader of the BN alliance Ahmad Zahid leads. Rafizi Ramli, the combative deputy leader of Anwar’s own Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), will be economic affairs minister.

Tengku Zafrul Aziz, finance minister from 2020 until the dissolution of parliament last month, will be the minister for international trade and industry. Zafrul, a BN member, lost to a PH candidate in the polls but is eligible to be a minister as he is an appointed senator.

There are five women in the 28-member cabinet, including DAP’s Hannah Yeoh who will be minister of youth and sports, BN member Azalina Othman who will be the de facto law minister and Sarawak MP Nancy Shukri, who will be the minister for women affairs, family and social development.

To lead the religious affairs ministry, Anwar picked Mohd Na’im Mokhtar who is currently the head of Malaysia’s Sharia Judicial Department. Mohd Na’im is the only non-politician appointed to the cabinet.

Of the various appointments, Ahmad Zahid being handed the deputy prime ministership was the most expected among political commentators, even though sceptics warned it would taint Anwar’s administration from the outset.

Ahmad Zahid is widely seen as a close ally of Najib Razak, the ex-leader defeated in 2018 polls and now in jail following a conviction linking him to the 1MDB financial scandal. Ahmad Zahid himself is facing corruption charges of his own for alleged money laundering and criminal breach of trust.

Along with Najib, Ahmad Zahid was among a slew of BN officials slapped with corruption charges following the 2018 vote, which Anwar’s PH won under the leadership of elder statesman Mahathir Mohamad.

The PH government collapsed in 2020, following an internal coup backed by Najib, Zahid and other BN heavyweights.

Nonetheless Ahmad Zahid’s support is key for Anwar’s current survival as prime minister. BN’s 30 MPs, along with lawmakers from Malaysian Borneo make up the more than 130 MPs who have so far said they back Anwar as prime minister.

Anwar’s own PH has 83 seats in the legislature, making it the biggest bloc in the 222-seat lower house of parliament. Anwar – on the advice of the country’s king – formed a unity government with Ahmad Zahid’s BN and the GPS and GRS coalitions from Malaysian Borneo.

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The conservative Malay-Muslim Perikatan Nasional (PN) bloc led by former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin opted not to join the unity government, claiming it would be dominated by the Chinese-centric DAP.

PN, comprising Muhyiddin Bersatu party and the hardline Islamist PAS, have 73 seats and will occupy the opposition benches when parliament reconvenes on December 19.

One of the legislature’s first orders of business will be a vote of confidence that Anwar has said he will subject himself to, to underscore the parliamentary backing he has obtained.

The administrations of his predecessors Ismail Sabri and Muhyiddin were short-lived in part due to weak support among MPs and incessant internal backbiting.