KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 ― Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had “wasted” a chance to introduce real institutional reforms when he announced his Cabinet today.

The president of the unregistered Malaysia United Democratic Alliance (Muda) questioned the selection, saying MPs in Umno and PAS who had shown their commitment to build the country had been overlooked.

“I see the Cabinet announcement from the Prime Minister just now as a ‘wasted opportunity’ to appoint good individuals, there is a commitment to build the country such as YB Azalina Othman, Dr Asyraf Wajdi, Saudara Shahril Hamdan, YB Ahmad Fadhli Shaari and others.

“Why appoint another minister who is clearly not performing well? Why are leaders with bad records still part of this government?

“So the Kerajaan Gagal (Failed Government) previously only took leave of about two weeks before returning to duty,” he wrote on Facebook in an immediate reaction to the Cabinet announcement.

Syed Saddiq also questioned Ismail Sabri’s decision to retain the bulk of ministers from the previous Perikatan Nasional government under Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The Opposition MP noted that Umno’s withdrawal of support from the Muhyiddin government was purportedly because it had failed to manage the country’s health and economic crises in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“But, when Umno has the power to appoint a new Cabinet, the same thing is done.

“Cabinet Failed 2.0,” he said.

Ismail Sabri appointed 31 ministers and 38 deputy ministers this morning. Most of the ministers retained their portfolios from the Muhyiddin government, including the portfolios of four senior ministers barring some shuffling of ministries.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2021/08/27/new-ismail-sabri-cabinet-a-wasted-opportunity-says-mudas-syed-saddiq/2000870