Tuesday May 14, 2013

Najib has option of appointing Chinese ministers via Senate

KUALA LUMPUR: There are more than 20 vacant slots in the 70-seat Dewan Negara, the upper house of Parliament that reviews legislations passed by the lower house, the Dewan Rakyat.

If Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak faces a dilemma of getting Barisan Nasional-friendly Chinese politicians to fill some of the ministerial posts in his Cabinet, he can look among the senators, who are all appointed for a three-year-term.

The number of senators varies, depending on the date of the expiry of their respective terms or by termination of appointment.

This will allow the Prime Minister to consider the appointment of specific personalities to serve the Cabinet or to retain leaders in the line-up other than by way of the polls.

As of Monday, there remains 48 senators, of whom 26 were appointed by the King and 22 others – 14 from the Barisan and eight from the opposition parties – appointed by the respective state governments.

Among them, seven senators will see their term expiring in June, while 41 others will serve till next year or up to 2016.

Those who ended their term as senator and went on to contest in the general election and win are MIC president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom and Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Maznah Mazlan.

Ex-senators who took a chance in the polls and lost were Deputy Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Maglin Dennis D’cruz, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Seri Dr Awang Adek and Deputy Foreign Minister Kohilan A. Pillay.

Gerakan president and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon, MCA vice-president and Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Gan Ping Sieu and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim were not fielded in the May 5 polls.

Among the notable non-political appointments is Datuk Seri Idris Jala, who was made Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and chief executive officer of Pemandu. His senatorship expires on Sept 15, 2015.

Following GE13, all the 222 seats of the Dewan Rakyat have been accounted for and Najib can have his pick of Cabinet ministers from the 133 elected parliamentary members of his winning Barisan coalition.

In addition, he can pick from the Dewan Negara – also known as the Senate – other eligible and qualified members to complement his selected MPs in his desired ministerial team.

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