BY AMYRA VARKISA & ALEXANDRA LORNA

A five-day wait for Malaysians following the divisive 15th general election (GE15) came to an end when Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was appointed as the country’s 10th prime minister on Thursday.

With that, the focus has now shifted from who will be the Prime Minister to what kind of cabinet will be formed under Anwar’s unity federal government.

Political analysts who were interviewed shared their views on the cabinet here:

DICK LEMBANG DUGUN

Political analyst, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
The cabinet should comprise members of the coalition parties and be functional. Persons of calibre must be appointed to head the ministries. A smaller cabinet is better. It can focus on addressing the problems faced by the nation.

DR NUR AIDA KIPLI 

Senior lecturer at Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, UiTM Sarawak
The new cabinet will be formed by including representatives from the coalition parties that support the formation of the unity government. What is important is the leadership line that is committed to implementing the essences of the manifesto of each of these party affiliations. Characteristics such as willingness to work for the people, transparency and integrity are held in high esteem. The cabinet is small but efficient and functional with full dedication and understanding of the people’s interests.

DR LEE KUOK TIUNG

Senior lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS)
Anwar is a seasoned politician. He surely will take advantage of this opportunity to win as many hearts of MPs as he can because he knows this is a unity government. He can be removed from his PM post with no-confidence motions. I hope Anwar will treat Sabah and Sarawak well. It’s safer for the prime minister to start with a smaller cabinet or fill a few more important ministerial posts first. I believe he needs to please many parties in his unity government. For me, it’s not lower ministerial pay that should be implemented but that the prime minister and MPs should not hold any GLC posts.