Dr M now says he’s happy with his Cabinet
The prime minister says he can change the entire Cabinet but that will not solve matters.
PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who had earlier spoken about a possible Cabinet reshuffle, today said he was satisfied with his ministers for now.
He noted that a Cabinet reshuffle would not solve matters and appealed to the public to give his “new” ministers a chance to show their mettle.
He said he would only kick out useless ministers but that for now they were all useful.
“It doesn’t mean when you make changes, it will be better. It can be worse. So I have to think very carefully,” he said, adding he had appointed the wrong people in the past.
Mahathir was speaking to reporters while on a working visit to South Korea.
Earlier this month, Mahathir said he was considering a Cabinet reshuffle, which he said could happen before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit next year.
He said a decision on the reshuffle would be made after he had analysed and studied the performance of the current ministers.
Today, Mahathir said one could get rid of the entire Cabinet in response to calls for a reshuffle and appoint a new line-up.
“But is there a guarantee it will work well?” he asked.
Mahathir went on to defend his ministers saying they were new to the job. He said most of them were in the opposition previously and, therefore, in need of some “adjustments”.
He then pleaded for people to give them a chance.
He said he would only kick out a minister if he or she proved to be useless.
“So far, they seem to be useful,” he said, adding that he knew who was doing what as they reported to him, despite complaints hurled at them.
He said for the time being, he was happy with his Cabinet.
On a separate matter, Mahathir lamented that it was difficult to do business properly in Malaysia as there was too much interference.
He claimed there were attempts to break up Petronas — the national oil company — to make it smaller.
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“There is too much politicking, too much interference. We cannot do business properly.”