PETALING JAYA: Rafizi Ramli’s concerns on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s new cabinet line-up are warranted as these decisions were made without consulting PKR, says his fellow party vice president Wong Chen (pic).
Wong said it is perplexing that PKR has not been offered any Cabinet positions yet, since it is the single largest party in Pakatan Harapan.
He pointed out that the party has 48 federal seats, while DAP has 42, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia has 13 and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) has 11.
“Nothing yet for PKR, the single largest party in Pakatan Harapan? So what did Rafizi do that is wrong in the eyes of the public?
“He is telling the truth to power, that these appointments were made without PKR’s consent,” Wong he said in a statement on Facebook on Saturday (May 12).
Wong's defence came shortly after Ambiga Sreevenasan tweeted “PKR, please stop your nonsense”.
The former Bersih 2.0 chairman was referring to a report in a news portal quoting Rafizi as saying Dr Mahathir had “bulldozed” those appointments through without PKR's consent.
Earlier on Saturday, the Prime Minister and Pakatan chairman had announced three of the 10 ministers that were supposed to have been unveiled after the coalition's presidential council meeting.
They were Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Home Minister, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng as Finance Minister, and Amanah president Mohamad Sabu as Defence Minister.
The other seven ministers that have yet to be named are Economy, Education, Multimedia Science and Technology; Rural Development, Public Works, Transport and Foreign.
Rafizi, who was criticised on social media, also issued a statement saying that he assumed those Cabinet positions were not final.
“Any decision regarding any appointments must be agreed in consensus with all four parties within Pakatan Harapan,” he said in a statement issued in his blog.
According to Wong, Rafizi does not want to see the Pakatan-led government by Dr Mahathir to start on the wrong footing.
“And as such he dared to tegur (chide) Dr Mahathir’s announcement, and for this, he is vilified by most of you.
“It is precisely this unhealthy attitude of Malaysians, never (wanting) to question authority … Rafizi worked tirelessly for two years with Invoke to bring about meaningful change,” he said, referring to Rafizi's non-governmental organisation.
“I am proud to be his friend and I will continue to support Rafizi in his quest to create a two-party system for Malaysia.”
PETALING JAYA: PKR assumes that the decision for the three Cabinet ministers are not final, says party vice-president Rafizi Ramli (pic).
This comes after only top leaders of Pakatan Harapan partner parties had been allocated Cabinet positions.
According to a PKR insider, there was some dissatisfaction when the Cabinet positions were being discussed amongst Pakatan leaders.
PKR wants the most number of Cabinet positions as it is the party with the most number of seats in Parliament.
However the DAP also has its demands and Amanah (Parti Amanah Negara) has asked for all the four partner parties to get an equal number of seats,” said the source.
The source added that most of the PKR representatives had left the Pakatan presidential council meeting to discuss Cabinet positions on Saturday, with only Pakatan Harapan secretariat chief Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah there to hold the fort, as a sign of their disagreement.
They also want the PKR adviser (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) to be involved in the selection process,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday (May 12), the Prime Minister and Pakatan chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced three of the 10 ministers that were supposed to have been unveiled (on May 12) after the coalition's presidential council meeting.
They were Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Home Minister, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng as Finance Minister, and Amanah president Mohamad Sabu as Defence Minister.
The other seven ministers that have yet to be named are Economy, Education, Multimedia Science and Technology; Rural Development, Public Works, Transport and Foreign.
In the press conference held to announce these ministers, PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, was conspicuously absent.
In a press statement released after Dr Mahathir's announcement, Rafizi questioned why no PKR members were present at the meeting to finalise the ministers.
"PKR assumes that the discussions are still underway and no final decision had been made – all decisions regarding any appointments must be agreed upon by all four parties in the Pakatan Harapan coalition,” Rafizi said in a statement.
He also acknowledged that Dr Mahathir had met Anwar at the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital to discuss the appointments.
KUALA LUMPUR: PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli has accused Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad of having bulldozed through the appointment of the three cabinet ministers, whose names were unveiled earlier today.
Rafizi said the prime minister had failed to consult the Pakatan Harapan component parties before announcing the names, and that the decision was a unilateral one.
A YouTube video, featuring an audio recording of a conversation between Rafizi and an unidentified person, quoted Rafizi voicing his displeasure at the move.
“Even the three appointed, because the decision was made without our participation. He bulldozed it.
“So because, I mean, obviously DAP is happy to get (the position of) Finance (Minister) and Parti Amanah Negara is happy to get Defence (Minister), the due process of discussing it was not done.
“He unilaterally announced (it),” he said in the one-minute, four-second video.
Rafizi said discussions among the four parties involved in Pakatan Harapan needed to take place for such decisions.
Earlier, in a blog post on his official website rafiziramli.com, he said PKR deemed that discussions were still ongoing and the announcement was “not conclusive.”
Dr Mahathir had announced at a press conference, the appointment of Lim Guan Eng as Finance Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Home Affairs Minister and Mohamad Sabu as Defence Minister.
Seven other ministers in the 10-person cabinet would only be announced by next week.
KUALA LUMPUR: Naib Presiden PKR, Rafizi Ramli menyifatkan pengumuman berhubung pelantikan tiga portfolio kanan dalam kerajaan membabitkan jawatan Menteri Kewangan, Menteri Dalam Negeri dan Menteri Pertahanan belum dimuktamadkan dan masih dalam perbincangan. Beliau berkata, sebarang keputusan mengenai pelantikan mestilah dipersetujui secara bersama oleh keempat-empat parti dalam Pakatan Harapan (PH). "Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad kini dalam perjalanan ke Hospital Rehabilitasi Cheras untuk berbincang dengan Ketua Umum PKR, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim berhubung pelantikan ini. "Kita yakin proses rundingan yang mengikuti semangat muafakat akan membantu mengukuhkan kerajaan PH. "Penjelasan ini dibuat kerana saya ditanya mengenai ketiadaan wakil PKR di dalam mesyuarat dan semasa pengumuman pelantikan sebentar tadi," katanya dalam kenyataan yang dimuatnaik dalam laman rasmi Rafiziramli.com, hari ini. Terdahulu, Dr Mahathir menamakan Setiausaha Agung DAP, Lim Guan Eng selaku Menteri Kewangan; Presiden Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin selaku Menteri Dalam Negeri dan Presiden Parti Amanah Negara, Mohamad Sabu sebagai Menteri Pertahanan. Tujuh lagi kementerian termasuk Pendidikan, Pembangunan Luar Bandar, Ekonomi, Kerja Raya, Pengangkutan, Multimedia Sains dan Teknologi serta Kementerian Luar akan diumumkan selewat-lewatnya minggu depan. Beliau mengumumkannya pada satu sidang media selepas selesai mengadakan mesyuarat khas berkaitan pembentukan Kabinet, di Wisma Yayasan Selangor.
