KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 12): DAP, which saw a net increase of one minister post to give the party a total of five ministers in the latest line-up, has denied that the party is the biggest winner in the Tuesday Cabinet reshuffle.

“It is not true to say that we are the biggest winner. In terms of net increase, it is only a net increase of one, same goes to Umno. I think the prime minister has taken into account the composition of the Cabinet and the representation of each party that makes up the Cabinet," said DAP secretary general Anthony Loke, who was retained as Minister of Transport in the Cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday (Dec 12). 

“So, I think overall, it is a fair adjustment, I would say. The PM is very democratic, he has had a consultation session with me, and he gave me the room to give some recommendations and to give some points of views,” he said.

Loke also said the latest line-up remains “within the range of what has been the practice of past governments, or in fact, lower than what past governments have done”.

Following the Cabinet reshuffle, DAP saw an increase of one minister in the new line-up to a total of five ministers, while the number of deputy ministers from the party has been kept at six.

Loke said Ramkarpal Singh had voluntarily vacated his position as deputy minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) after knowing of his elder brother Gobind Singh Deo’s appointment as Digital Minister in the latest Cabinet reshuffle.

The reshuffle also saw V Sivakumar dropped from the latest line-up, with his human resources ministry portfolio taken up by Steven Sim Chee Keong, formerly the deputy finance minister II.

“[Ramkarpal] felt that it is inappropriate for siblings to serve as minister and deputy minister at the same time. He sacrificed to vacate his position so that it does not give space to DAP’s critics that we adopt nepotism in our party,” said Loke.

“I want to thank Ramkarpal. Although he has contributed a lot in legislative reforms in the past one year, he decided to sacrifice by vacating his position voluntarily, this is a spirit that is important for our party,” he told reporters here after the new ministers’ swearing-in ceremony earlier.

Gobind was sworn in as digital minister on Tuesday after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the rejig of his Cabinet, including the split of the previous Ministry of Communications and Digital into two ministries.

Fahmi Fadzil, who used to helm the Ministry of Communications and Digital, will stay on in the Cabinet as communications minister after the splitting of his former portfolio.

“Sivakumar has also issued a statement that he accepted the decision. To me, that is very magnanimous and it is in line with the spirit we have in DAP, and I thank him for that,” said Loke.

The Seremban MP also said what is important now is delivery to the public, and how well the Cabinet and the government can fulfil, and implement our policies. 

"So, no single decision will satisfy everybody. There was a lot of hope for a second finance minister, and now a second finance minister (post) has been created, so now there will be criticism on why the Cabinet has been enlarged, I think there is no end to that. 

"The decision has been made, (so) I think it is important for the government to focus on our job, and to deliver — to make sure we have better economic growth, and better utilisation of our resources. At the end of the day, the standard of living of the people must be uplifted,” he said.

That, Loke said, is the party's main goal in the government. "I am very confident that, with a renewed spirit, with a strong team, consisting of both experienced and young dynamic leaders in the Cabinet, we can move the country forward,” he added.

Already, there are signs of strong growth in certain economic sectors and the government hopes to sustain the momentum into next year, said Loke.

In particular, he pointed at tourism, where the relaxation of visa requirements for Chinese and Indian tourists has garnered a lot of good feedback, so the government is looking forward to 2024.

"There will be very strong growth, especially in the transport sector because tourism is related to aviation. There will be strong movement in terms of international passengers, more airlines are flying to Malaysia, more tourists are coming, and this will be really good for all our related industries,” he said.

He pointed to the hotels that are seeing high demand, and the often full restaurants and crowded malls.

"These are all good signs moving forward, and we have to keep this momentum going. With this new team, with the new second finance minister, and [certain ministries] starting to focus on particular [sectors, like] digital, energy transition — I think the future of the country will be good,” he added.

“That is our main goal in the government, I am very confident that, with a renewed spirit, with a strong team, consisting of both experienced and young dynamic leaders in the Cabinet, we can move the country forward,” he added.

Read also:
Anwar announces a dozen Cabinet line-up changes, with two ministry portfolio splits
MOF should not be affected by political pressures, PM says on appointment of non-politician as finance minister II
Separation of ministry to empower delivery of information, drive digital economy — Fahmi
Scope, functions of new ministry to be known on Wednesday — Gobind