KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 – The Member of Parliament for Ipoh Timur, Wong Kah Woh is questioning the priorities of the party chiefs in the ruling coalition of PN, who have been haggling over a ministerial post at a time when the people in the country are facing bread and butter issues.
In a statement today, Wong, who is also the chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) took to task Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasssin for suggesting that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob “can create new Ministry” for Datuk Zuraidah Kamaruddin who has resigned from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) if the prime minister wanted to retain Zuraidah but that it cannot be under the quota of PPBM.
PPBM, headed by Muhyiddin is a component party in the ruling coalition of Perikatan Nasional.
“The nation had already had enough ministries and ministers under the short stint of Muhyiddin’s premiership and Ismail Sabri’s premiership, both with 32 full ministers. The Pakatan Harapan’s Cabinet in 2018 had only 28 members despite having a larger majority in the numbers of MPs,” Wong said.
Both BN-PN’s prime ministers had even split the Ministry of Energy Science Technology Environment & Climate Change (MESTECC) into three different Ministries of Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (KETSA), Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) and Ministry of Environment, he said, alleging that it was not due to the complexity of the works but merely a “job creation exercise” for the Government MPs in order to gain their continuous support.
“Muhyiddin is now even talking to add fats to the already bloated Cabinet. In the eyes of Muhyiddin, it seems that it is all well to compromise the nation and people’s interest in the power-struggle between UMNO and PPBM.
“The nation is facing an unprecedented price hike, and yet Muhyiddin is only interested to “creating new Ministry” as a short cut in handling the infighting for power and positions between UMNO and PN?.”
–WE