Merit has never been a key consideration in Cabinet appointments, which are driven mainly by political calculations, says a political analyst after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was urged to forgo party quotas when he reshuffles the Cabinet.
Lau Zhe Wei of International Islamic University of Malaysia said while it is easy to ask a prime minister to choose based on merit, no prime minister has really done so.
“At the end of the day, (Cabinet reshuffles) are based on political calculations. You still need to consider party quotas,” he told FMT.
Azmil Tayeb of Universiti Sains Malaysia also said it would be tricky for Anwar to balance the interests of the unity government’s component parties with finding the best people for ministerial appointments. “These two goals are…