Ismail Sabri pledges to reduce cabinet size and include technocrats

Caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said he would reduce the size of his cabinet if BN were to win in the 15th general election (GE15).

“Many have said my cabinet is inflated and I agree, it is too big.

“For sure, I will reduce the size of my cabinet,” Ismail Sabri said when asked about his plans for the next five years if his coalition were to gain a victory in this election.

He said this during the television broadcast “Bual Bicara Khas Bersama Perdana Menteri – Kestabilan dan Kemakmuran” tonight.

Besides reducing the size of his cabinet, Ismail Sabri said he would also fill it with not only politicians but also technocrats.

“I will make expertise and skill sets as the guide to forming the cabinet. It would comprise not only politicians but also technocrats,” he stressed.

Ismail Sabri was also asked about the increased personal attacks being thrown during this campaigning period, to which he said Umno/BN has no interest in focusing on personal issues.

On the contrary, he said, they prefer to focus on peddling their “product”, that is the promises in their manifesto.

“Character assassination is not a point for us to use as campaigning material. We are more about selling our ‘product’, and what we can offer to the rakyat.

“Our manifesto is far better than the other parties’ (manifestos),” he said.

The rakyat can rest assured that their manifesto is not comprised of empty promises as a huge part of the manifesto is based on Budget 2023, that was tabled in Parliament on Oct 7.

Ismail Sabri said this meant all the policies and initiatives mentioned in the manifesto have been budgeted for, and were just waiting to be implemented once the budget is approved.

“So our manifesto is not merely promising the moon and stars, but it is grounded and realistic as it has all been budgeted for,” he noted.

Malaysia goes to the polls on Nov 19.

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