Dr M: Cabinet reshuffle, possibly before Apec

PETALING JAYA: A Cabinet reshuffle must take place, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The Prime Minister said that there will be some ministers who will be dropped but added that it will not be today or tomorrow.

"Very likely before Malaysia hosts the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit next year," said Dr Mahathir.

Admitting that reshuffling would not be a solution to recover the waning popularity of Pakatan Harapan ruling coalition, as reflected in the recent Tanjung Piai by-election defeat, Dr Mahathir said it has to be done anyway.

Pakatan received its worst by-election defeat in Tanjung Piai when its Bersatu candidate lost by more than 15,000 votes to MCA of Barisan Nasional on Nov 16.

He said that the reshuffle should not be "radical" so as to affect the preparations of Malaysia to host Apec.

"It may be before the Apec summit but I do not want too many changes to take place because we need to make the necessary preparations as this involves many world powers and we need to be prepared.

"As the Prime Minister, I am responsible to reshuffle and I will listen to opinion of others. I will give my own views as to making the reshuffle.

"It will not be today or tomorrow as we have to weigh the abilities and achievements of the current ministers. Only after that can I discuss (with component parties) of a Cabinet reshuffle.

"My constraint is that although I am the PM, I have to discuss with the other five component Pakatan parties and I cannot easily make my own decisions to change or drop just anyone," said Dr Mahathir.

Pakatan is made up of Bersatu, PKR, DAP and Parti Amanah Nasional and is partnered by Parti Warisan Sabah.

He said that the reshuffle of the Cabinet may even bring about new problems and therefore, there is much to be weighed.

"The act of reshuffling is not a solution, it may even be a problem; we have to know the achievements of ministers before we replace them. We need to know what are the capabilities (of the new ones).

"A cabinet reshuffle is not a solution to our problems that will recover the position of the government. If we reshuffle, maybe the new ones will also take time and the results will too take time and in that time, perhaps there may be calls for another reshuffle.

"As if we reshuffle, everything will be solved," said Dr Mahathir.

Dr Mahathir said that hosting the Apec summit cannot be taken lightly as it is an important international meeting

"We need to make the preparations and this (reshuffle) may be a hindrance to radical change in the government," he said.

He said that although his party leaders have voiced their concerns over their terrible defeat in Tanjung Piai and the need for a reshuffle real soon, he was not given a deadline.

"My party did not give me a deadline by when the reshuffle would happen. We will discuss this soon with Pakatan Harapan component parties real soon, in a few days time," said Dr Mahathir.

He was speaking to the media at Bersatu's headquarters here after meeting with the central leadership of the party.

He further stated that the government, albeit only less than two years old, have achieved much but the people are not informed of the increased foreign direct investments it has managed to pull in.

"Although we have been in power for one year and eight months, many of the plans we have launched will take time before there are results. We have changed many plans to ensure the government is more effective.

"We have been able to lessen many corruption practices even though this caused uneasiness among those who previously used to get 'corrupted assistance'.

"The case of tops (of the government) who used to take billions do not happen anymore. Perhaps there is corruption at the lower ranks, but this is much lesser than before," said Dr Mahathir.

Last August, The Star reported that a possible cabinet reshuffle was discussed during a Cabinet meeting.

Dr Mahathir then downplayed it as saying it was a "mere reshuffling of Cabinet portfolios".

Pakatan leaders themselves have criticised their performance after the Tanjung Piai defeat and called for a reassessment of how the coalition works and its leaders.