Veteran newsman A Kadir Jasin has mocked Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak over his latest cabinet reshuffle, which apart from the appointment of new faces, did not witness the much speculated shake-up.

"In line with his policy of appeasement towards the Chinese, making everybody happy and keeping things big, the prime minister added three more ministers to his cabinet and retained the rest," he said in his blog this afternoon.

 

The new ministers are MCA president Liow Tiong Lai, his deputy Wee Ka Siong and Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong.

"MCA, despite its mediocre performance at last year's general election, also received three deputy ministers' posts," he noted.

"So all the talks and speculations about Muhyiddin Yassin leaving and Hishammuddin Hussein going up are a waste of time and space. The PM and his merry men march on!" he added.

After weeks of speculation, Najib made the announcement at his office in Putrajaya this morning.

In a previous posting, Kadir (left) , the former New Straits Times group editor-in-chief, urged Najib not to give face to the Chinese parties in BN.

"MCA is still in talking mode. But there is no evidence that it has got the attention of the Chinese, let alone, their support.

"The Chinese have rejected BN, so why is Najib still pandering to MCA and Gerakan. The Chinese said it loud and clear they do not need BN. Let them be.

"PM must prioritise the majority (the Malays and bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak) who are impoverished. They are the ones who save BN in the last general election," he added.

Kadir had also urged Najib to discard "lame duck" Malay and Bumiputera ministers and replace them with the young who are willing to perform.

Meanwhile, the veteran newsman had also commented on the speculation about Muhyiddin quitting as deputy prime minister to focus on Umno, which has since been dismissed.

Even if Muhyiddin has differences with Najib, he said, it should not be an excuse for him to step down.

“Many Umno leaders, including ministers, have issues with Najib. They should stay and fight for the party instead of forsaking it out of distaste for Najib,” he added.

Kadir also noted that Najib needed Muhyiddin close for two reasons.

“First, Muhyiddin is popular with Umno members. For that reason, Najib has left much of party work to him.

“Second, because of Muhyiddin’s popularity with Umno members, it’s risky for Najib to let him take charge of the party away from his scrutiny. He has to keep Muhyiddin in his sight,” he added.

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