Cabinet Reshuffle Imminent? What for IIM when there is no IC?

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Media Statement (1)
by Lim Kit Siang  
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(Parliament, Friday): The long delayed and overdue Cabinet reshuffle appears imminent. Nobody can rule out the possibility that when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi chairs his  first Cabinet meeting for the new year next Wednesday, it would not be a reshuffled Cabinet.

But will it be an Integrity Cabinet? Is Pak Lah prepared to boldly proclaim Integrity as the underlying  theme  of his new Cabinet?

Never before in the nation’s history has so much of the people’s hopes for change been invested in the imminent Cabinet reshuffle.

If the new Cabinet, which should be downsized to a lean, nimble and super-efficient one, cannot kick-start the integrity pledge and programme  which had been stalled for more than two years, there goes the legacy of Pak Lah as the fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

For Malaysians would then have little basis to hope that great things on integrity could be expected under the Abdullah premiership, whatever his personal intentions.

Abdullah’s “new” Cabinet would not have the traditional “Hundred Days” to prove its credentials and credibility.  It must hit the ground running and must produce results in its first month in office.

Malaysians have been waiting for the delivery of Abdullah’s pledge and programme of government integrity for more than two years.   

In the past two years, Abdullah has very little to show in action and results and  he had remained the  lone voice in Cabinet and government for integrity. No  single  Cabinet Minister was   prepared to give full backing to the Prime Minister by spearheading a ministerial shake-up to convince Malaysians that integrity and reform are not just empty words or slogans.

Malaysians will not wait for “A Hundred Days” before withholding judgment on the new Abdullah cabinet.  They expect to see actions and results on  integrity in the first month of office of the new cabinet  itself.

The  important  question Abdullah must bear in mind when deciding on his new Cabinet  is – What is the use of having an Integrity  Institute of Malaysia (IIM) when there is no Integrity Cabinet (IC)?

(06/01/2006)