Reforms | Malaysia's First Shadow Cabinet

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The New Opposition Shadow Cabinet

Posted on October 01, 2018

Malaysia's First Shadow Cabinet

The opposition announced that they have formed Malaysia’s first shadow cabinet to monitor the new PH government. The shadow cabinet comprises of Members of Parliament from opposition parties who are tasked to play a check-and-balance role.
In a healthy democratic system, there must exist an effective opposition to scrutinise, challenge and debate government actions and non-actions. A shadow cabinet is the organised and targeted check-and-balance system to keep the governing government on their toes. If, the previous opposition parties had instituted an effective shadow cabinet, would we have had a better-governed country and spared the billions in wastages and leakages at the expenses of our taxpayers?

What is a shadow cabinet?
The shadow cabinet, a feature of the Westminster system of government, is an alternative cabinet that mirrors the makeup of the ruling government’s cabinet.
A shadow minister is assigned to scrutinise the policies and actions of the governing minister. The concept of the shadow cabinet is not new, but this is the first formed in Malaysia. It is a common practice in former British Empire colonies that have adopted the similar parliamentary governing system.

What does the shadow cabinet do?
The main duty of the shadow cabinet is to scrutinise the government’s actions, policies, programmes and initiatives. They are to voice their concerns and challenge their counterpart if there is a cause for concern on targeted policies and the specific issues of their assigned portfolio.

How is Malaysia’s shadow cabinet structured?
Malaysia’s first shadow cabinet is led by the new opposition leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. The opposition has structured individual committees to mirror the ministries of the government. Two Members of Parliament and at least three professionals are assigned to each committee. These veteran opposition members are responsible for keeping tab of their counterpart in the new PH government.

Expected effectiveness as the new opposition voice
The shadow cabinet comprises senior members from UMNO, MCA, MIC and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah who have served in the previous administration(s). Most members of the alternative cabinet have extensive hands-on experience as they had held ministerial positions and also served in the public administration for many years.
Some are of the opinion that they should not be taken lightly as it is not mere shadow play. Their combined wide-range experience from having served in past administrations gives them the edge over the new inexperienced government in all areas of public administration.

Sources

In the News

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Who is Watching Who?

Prime Minister's Office

Prime Minister: Dr Mahathir Mohamad
Deputy Prime Minister: Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail
Shadow Ministers: Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs)
Minister: Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa
Deputy Minister: Fuziah Salleh
Shadow Ministers: Shabudin Yahaya

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law)
Minister: Liew Vui Keong
Deputy Minister: Mohamed Hanipa Maidin
Shadow Ministers: Azalina Othman Said and Ronald Kiandee

Ministry of Defence
Minister: Mohamad Sabu
Deputy Minister: Liew Chin Tong
Shadow Ministers: Hishammuddin Hussein and Abdul Rahim Bakri

Ministry of Home Affairs
Minister: Muhyiddin Mohd. Yassin
Deputy Minister: Mohd. Azis Jamman
Shadow Ministers: Shahidan Kassim and Adham Baba

Ministry of Finance
Minister: Lim Guan Eng
Deputy Minister: Amiruddin Hamzah
Deputy Minister: Ir Amiruddin Hamzah

Ministry of Economic Affairs
Minister: Mohamed Azmin Ali
Deputy Minister: Dr. Mohd. Radzi Md. Jidin
Shadow Ministers: Hasan Arifin

Ministry of Education
Minister: Dr. Maszlee Malik
Deputy Minister: Teo Nie Ching
Shadow Ministers: Mahdzir Khalid and Idris Jusoh

Ministry of Health
Minister: Dr. Dzulkefly bin Ahmad
Deputy Minister: Dr. Lee Boon Chye
Shadow Ministers: Abdul Latif Ahmad and Rosol Wahid

Ministry of Transport
Minister: Anthony Loke Siew Fook
Deputy Minister: Kamarudin Jaffar
Shadow Ministers: Wee Ka Siong and Salim Sharif

Ministry of Housing and Local Government
Minister: Zuraida Kamaruddin
Deputy Minister: Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad
Shadow Ministers: Noh Omar and Halimah Mohamed Sadique

Ministry of Human Resources
Minister: Kula Segaran Murugeson
Deputy Minister: Mahfuz bin Omar
Shadow Ministers: No appointment

Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry
Minister: Salahuddin Ayub
Deputy Minister: Sim Tze Tzin
Shadow Ministers: Tajuddin Abdul Rahman and Mohd Fasiah Mohd Fakeh

Ministry of Rural Development
Minister: Rina Mohd. Harun
Deputy Minister: Sivarasa Rasiah
Shadow Ministers: Annuar Musa, Joseph Kurup and Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub

Ministry of Works
Minister: Baru Bian
Deputy Minister: Mohd. Anuar Mohd. Tahir
Shadow Ministers: M. Saravanan and Abdul Rahman Mohamad

Ministry of Communications and Multimedia
Minister: Gobind Singh Deo
Deputy Minister: Eddin Syazlee Shith
Shadow Ministers: Shamsul Anuar Nasarah and Zahidi Zainul Abidin

Ministry Of Primary Industries
Minister: Teresa Kok Suh Sim
Deputy Minister: Shamsul Iskandar Md. Akin
Shadow Ministers: Sivarrajh Chandran and Mastura Yazid

Ministry of International Trade and Industry
Minister: Ignatius Darell Leiking
Deputy Minister: Dr Ong Kian Ming
Shadow Ministers: Ahmad Maslan and Ismail Mohd Said

Ministry of Entrepreneurship Development
Minister: Mohd. Redzuan Md. Yusof
Deputy Minister: Dr. Mohd. Hatta Md. Ramli
Shadow Ministers: Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim and Ahmad Nazlan Idris

Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumers Affairs
Minister: Saifuddin Nasution Ismail
Deputy Minister: Chong Chieng Jen
Shadow Ministers: No appointment

Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources
Minister: Dr. Xavier Jayakumar Arulanandam
Deputy Minister: Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji
Shadow Ministers: Bung Mokhtar Radin and Nizar Zakaria

Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change
Minister: Yeo Bee Yin
Deputy Minister: Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis
Shadow Ministers: Ahmad Hamzah and Hasbullah Osman

Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development
Minister: Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail
Deputy Minister: Hannah Yeoh Tseow Suan
Shadow Ministers: Noraini Ahmad and Azizah Mohd Dun

Ministry of Youth and Sports
Minister: Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman
Deputy Minister: Steven Sim Chee Keong
Shadow Ministers: Shahar Abdullah and Yamani Hafez Musa

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Minister: Saifuddin Abdullah
Deputy Minister: Marzuki Yahya
Shadow Ministers: Reezal Merican Naina Merican

Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture
Minister: Mohammadin Ketapi
Deputy Minister: Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik
Shadow Ministers: Mohamed Nazri Aziz and Jalaluddin Alias

Ministry of Federal Territories
Minister: Khalid Abdul Samad
Deputy Minister: Dr. Shahruddin Md. Salleh
Shadow Ministers: Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Rozman Isli

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Contacts

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