PM can name replacements now - Saifuddin on ministers leaving

Summary

• Former minister Saifuddin Abdullah says Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim can appoint new ministers immediately without waiting for outgoing ministers to clear their leave.

• The Bersatu lawmaker argues that cabinet reshuffles are entirely at the prime minister’s discretion and not bound by civil service protocols.

• He believes Anwar is using the leave period to “avoid the real stuff”, despite Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad already tendering their resignations.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim does not need to wait for the end of a minister’s tenure before naming a replacement, said former minister Saifuddin Abdullah.

Referring to the resignations of ministers Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad yesterday, Saifuddin said no official protocols are barring the prime minister from announcing their successors while the duo are on leave.

“It is the prime minister’s discretion… the (cabinet) reshuffle announcement can be done now, (as) ministers are not government servants who are subject to certain schemes concerning their resignations.

“Ministers serve at the behest of the prime minister. Maybe this is his (Anwar’s) way of avoiding real stuff,” Saifuddin told Malaysiakini.

The Bersatu lawmaker was alluding to Anwar’s remark earlier today that the ministerial positions held by Rafizi and Nik Nazmi cannot be filled by a replacement while the duo is on a break.

Commenting on the matter, Saifuddin said that since they are clearing their annual leave, their replacements will only assume office once the current ministers clock out for the last time.

“(Anwar) can do a cabinet reshuffle anytime. But, since he has approved their leave applications, the actual dates for the new ministers to assume office will have to wait because you can’t be paying two overlapping salaries,” he said.

Rafizi - the economy minister - is on leave until June 16, with June 17 set to be his last day in office.

Meanwhile, Nik Nazmi - the natural resources and environmental sustainability minister - is on leave until July 3, with his last day in office being July 4.

The Prime Minister’s Office yesterday stated that Anwar has approved their leave applications, but did not mention whether their resignations were accepted.

Their resignation announcements, just hours apart, followed their defeat in last week’s PKR polls, with Rafizi losing the deputy presidency and Nik Nazmi being bumped off the vice-president quartet.

Both ministers cited their loss at the party’s polls as the reason behind their resignations while vowing to continue serving their parliamentary constituencies as backbenchers.

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