The case for a Cabinet reshuffle

PUBLIC sentiment is hardening into a view that the government is under-delivering at a time when Malaysians are wrestling with rising prices, sluggish delivery of election promises, and the lingering effects of subsidy rationalisation. The perception that the Prime Minister must speak on every issue and appear in every forum is not a compliment; it is a signal that authority is over-centralised and that ministerial portfolios are not projecting sufficient ownership. The remedy is not more rhetoric but better structure, clearer delegation and a willingness to refresh the team where performance lags.

Recent political developments have made the deficit of bandwidth more visible. Following the PKR elections, Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli resigned as Economy Minister and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad resigned as Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister. In the interim, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan has been tasked with discharging the duties of the Economy Minister, while Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, is discharging the duties of the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister. These arrangements ensure continuity, but they also underline the need to stabilise the Cabinet’s centre of gravity around capable principals empowered to decide and deliver.

A structural reset should begin with the law portfolio. At the Asean Law Forum in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 21, the Prime Minister said the government is seriously considering establishing a dedicated Law Ministry, reversing the 1995 decision to subsume legal affairs under the Prime Minister’s Department. If the reformist promise of this administration is to be credible, the law function requires standalone ministry-weight, not a unit under central control. A full ministry would align Malaysia with best practice, signal that the rule of law is not an auxiliary concern and give legal and institutional reform the political clout it needs.

Such a ministry should be led by Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said and should be designed with real reach and bite. It ought to take forward, decisively and on a published timetable, the separation of the roles of the Attorney General and the Public Prosecutor—an overdue reform that has already moved into its final phase of study and Cabinet consideration. In the near term, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should be supervised by this new ministry to tighten coordination between law-making and enforcement. Over time, the MACC should transition to direct parliamentary oversight, consistent with long-standing calls from civil society and with the government’s stated ambition to combat corruption “without fear or favour.” The point is not to replicate foreign models but to organise legal policy, prosecution and oversight in a coherent system that reduces incentives for executive interference.

The law ministry’s remit should include a tightly defined package of institutional reforms that voters can recognise and measure.

First, the anti-hopping framework must be strengthened so that Members of Parliament who are sacked by their parties also lose their seats, subject to due-process safeguards against arbitrary expulsions. The current exclusion for expulsions undermines the spirit of the law and the electorate’s mandate.

Second, Malaysia should adopt a two-term limit for prime ministers to cap the concentration of power and force generational renewal.

Third, a statute should provide that any member of the executive facing criminal investigation must go on mandatory leave; this protects both institutional integrity and due process.

Fourth, Parliament should restore Article 121(1) of the Federal Constitution to its pre-1988 wording vesting “the judicial power of the Federation” in the courts, to end ambiguity about the constitutional source of judicial authority.

Fifth, the Judicial Appointments Commission must be strengthened so that transparent criteria, published shortlists and tighter constraints on executive discretion become the norm rather than the exception. Each of these changes is administratively straightforward and politically legible; together, they would be the most convincing proof of a reform government.

Economic governance also requires a clearer command structure. The Finance and Economy portfolios are interlinked in their workstreams and in their messaging to households and firms. Confirming Amir Hamzah as Economy Minister while he continues as Finance Minister II would bring policy design, budgeting and implementation under one technocratic helm. He has shown a willingness to communicate difficult choices plainly—including on subsidy retargeting and indirect tax—most recently in a wide-ranging conversation on the Keluar Sekejap podcast. In an environment where public confidence hinges on clarity and predictability, that discipline of explanation is as valuable as the measures themselves.

The digitalisation agenda must be treated as a delivery mandate, not a branding exercise. The Digital Ministry, led by Gobind Singh Deo, has advanced important planks—finalisation of a National Artificial Intelligence Action Plan, a forthcoming data digitalisation policy for the public sector, and work around digital identity and cross-government data standards. What is required now is leverage: explicit authority to set and enforce inter-ministerial data rules, targeted hiring flexibilities for technical talent, and public dashboards that track end-to-end digitisation of services and small- and medium-enterprise adoption. Malaysians should be able to see, month by month, where services have moved online, how quickly they are processed, and how much time and cost have been saved.

Performance management must be real. The perception, fair or not, that ministers from the Umno have been among the more visible performers will harden unless under-performing portfolios are refreshed on the basis of outcomes, not seniority. Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani’s activism on commodities policy—ranging from biodiesel initiatives to signalling on replanting and downstream value—shows how a minister can give an economic portfolio a tangible edge.

Coalition management is not a distraction from governance; it is a precondition for it. If Barisan Nasional is to remain a stable pillar of the unity government, then there is a case for admitting the MCA and the MIC into the Cabinet in a manner commensurate with responsibility and delivery. This would not be tokenism. It would be a recognition that plural coalitions must be reflected in the executive, and that partners must be given the space to own outcomes in portfolios where they can add value.

The government also needs a more persuasive and concrete policy narrative for bumiputra advancement that focuses on mobility, competitiveness and fairness, and is communicated through tangible programmes rather than slogans. That narrative will decide whether sceptical voters can be brought into a shared project over the next two years.

Hard choices also arise with high-performing ministers who are senators. Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, the Investment, Trade and Industry Minister, has been a highly visible driver of the investment-led growth story. His term as senator concludes in December 2025. His efforts as minister have been essential to sustaining momentum in trade and industry. As such, the political class should be prepared to create a legitimate path—potentially via a strategic by-election—for his transition to the lower house of parliament. That planning should happen now, not on the eve of expiry.

Finally, the Prime Minister must demonstrate that he has both the political authority and the managerial discipline to configure a Cabinet for delivery. That means announcing the intended direction on a dedicated Law Ministry and the Attorney General–Public Prosecutor separation, consolidating leadership over the Finance and Economy portfolios, empowering the digital transformation with hard levers and timelines, refreshing portfolios that have not shipped results, and aligning coalition representation with responsibility. The next 24 months will not turn on how often the Prime Minister speaks but on whether Malaysians can feel the difference in prices, services and fairness.

Charm and eloquence are public assets, but no personal attribute can substitute for institutions that work, ministers who execute, and a government that treats reform as a plan with dates rather than a promise with adjectives.