ANALYSIS The thumping victory of the Sarawak BN in the state election of May 7 raised expectations of some changes in the Sarawak cabinet.

But if Chief Minister Adenan Satem raised expectations of a more inclusive cabinet, hopes were dashed when the line-up appeared to be largely based on which parties did the best, with deputy chief minister posts thrown in as an added bonus.

"If you look at the line-up, the biggest winner in the last election was PBB. You can see that with seven ministers from the party and then they get an additional DCM post, that’s unprecedented,"

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Institute of Malaysian and International Studies senior fellow Faisal Hazis said.

Beyond that, the cabinet announcement was also largely a ‘same ol same ol affair’, with only four newcomers joining the club. This, Faisal said, does not bode well for Adenan’s promise of reform.

Who were the winners and losers?

Winners

PBB and ‘Taib’s men’

PBB took the lion’s share of the cabinet posts, holding seven out of 10 spots. Deputy president Abang Johari and vice-president Douglas Uggah flank Adenan, as deputy chief ministers.

Almost all appointed were part of Abdul Taib Mahmud’s cabinet, with major portfolios remaining in the same hands, raising questions on whether the former CM and current governor had a hand in the selection.

“I'm asking whether Taib Mahmud has any say in the distribution of portfolios because it seems like almost a status quo in certain cabinet posts with certain ministers.

"If you look at most the faces, they are basically Taib's men, minus a few other new faces. There's a big question there," Faisal (photo) said.

PBB also expanded its cabinet control with BN secretary-general, Dr Stephen Rundi, being among the handful of new faces appointed. He is public utilities minister.

Abang Johari’s appointment as DCM, on top of retaining the tourism and housing portfolios, was reward for his work as Sarawak BN election chief.

"In this particular election, Abang Johari was instrumental because he was basically the campaign director for BN.

"He went beyond the target by winning 72 seats and he got the DCM post because of the big success leading the party for the big win," Faisal said.

Awang Tengah, who Faisal said was earlier speculated to be given a miss, also kept his posts as the second resource planning and industrial development minister, and minister of industrial and entrepreneur development, trade and investment.

Wong Soon Koh and UPP

Wong was re-appointed Finance Minister II, a senior position much coveted by all, despite his party UPP bagging only five seats compared with SUPP’s seven.

Notably, Wong had quit the party to become a BN direct candidate - but is now back in UPP’s fold to cement UPP’s position in BN anchor party PBB’s good books.

"UPP wins big time because Wong Soon Koh kept the finance (portfolio),” University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute director James Chin said.

James Masing and PRS

The PRS president remains in cabinet, holding key portfolios of infrastructure development and transportation.

More than that, Masing was awarded the third deputy chief minister post for leading PRS to win all 11 seats it contested.

Win some, lose some

William Mawan

The former Teras president who was speculated to have joined PBB was dropped from the line-up, after winning his Pakan constituency with a much lower majority of 426 votes compared with 1,197 votes in 2011.

However, happily for him, Chin believes Mawan would replace PBB’s Uggah in the federal cabinet, with Uggah having resigned as plantation industries and commodities minister.

Loser

Dr Sim Kui Hian and SUPP

Sim’s position as local government minister is very junior, especially when compared with UPP’s Wong.

Chin said as SUPP president, Sim (photo) should have been awarded a higher position than Wong. Instead, the local government portfolio, which was previously under Wong, was carved out as a concession for Sim.

Chin said a Chinese candidate was not appointed DCM because the votes did not go back to Sarawak BN and the wider Chinese community would be disappointed with Sim’s appointment.

"SUPP is at the losing end because Sim got a minor post (as local government minister for Sarawak).

“He can only appoint ketua kampung (village heads) and (city or town) councillors.

"(It) shows the enduring influence of Taib in the line-up. Sim (Kui Hian) often boasted closeness with Najib. It has counted for nothing. In fact, it was a liability as it made him look like Umno stooge," Chin added.

 

 

NORMAN GOH is a member of the Malaysiakini Team