PR unveils ministerial committees (Updated 4.30pm)

Updated 4.30pm, 2 July 2009

PKR vice-president Azmin Ali, with PAS’s Salahuddin Ayub (left), DAP’s Chong Eng, and Tony Pua (standing)

KUALA LUMPUR, 2 July 2009: Pakatan Rakyat (PR) today announced its 25 parliamentary ministerial committees, each co-chaired by a Member of Parliament (MP) from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), PAS and DAP.

Each committee will tag a ministry in the federal government but unlike proper shadow cabinet positions, will only focus on preparing for debates in Parliament, PKR vice-president Azmin Ali said today.

He said the committees’ objective was to improve the quality of debates in the Dewan Rakyat by pooling ideas and research. Members of the committees will include non-politicians who are experts in various fields.

Azmin said the committees have been active over the last few months researching and holding regular meetings with PR MPs.

But the announcement was slated for today, despite it being the last day of the current Parliament sitting, to highlight the committees’ role in the October Parliamentary sitting when the House will convene for two months.

Azmin said PR wanted to be prepared to tackle important bills, such as the yearly budget, which will be tabled in that sitting.

“It will be an important session with many big issues so we want all PR MPs to be prepared,” he told a press conference in the Parliament lobby.

Not a real shadow cabinet

Political observers have been arguing for PR to establish a shadow cabinet since the opposition alliance denied the Barisan Nasional its two-thirds majority after the March 2008 general election.

It was argued that forming a shadow cabinet would be one of the best ways for PR to prove its viability as an alternative government.

Azmin today said the term “shadow cabinet” should not be used to describe the committees. But he agreed, when asked, that the committees were “a step closer” to forming a proper shadow cabinet.

DAP information chief Tony Pua, who was also at the press conference, explained that shadow cabinets were official positions in other parliamentary systems but not in Malaysia.

Opposition parliamentarians who were shadow cabinet ministers were given a budget, research staff, and other resources to help them fulfill their roles.

“In our case, we’ll never get that recognition. For a sole person to be given a shadow cabinet position without resources is quite non-effective. The better way to approach it is to form committees, share resources and come up with collective ideas and debating points,” Pua said.

“It’s more practical since we don’t have official shadow cabinet positions under our current parliamentary system.”

Opposition parliamentary committee according to ministries

Ministry	PKR	PAS	DAP
Prime Minister’s Department	DS Anwar Ibrahim Mohd Azmin Ali R Sivarasa TS Khalid Ibrahim Dr William Leong Ahmad Kasim Fuziah Salleh	DS Hadi Awang Nasharudin Mat Isa Salahuddin Ayub Dr Hatta Ramli Dzulkefly Ahmad Taib Azamuddin Khalid Samad	Lim Kit Siang Ngeh Koo Ham Hiew King Chiew John Fernandez
Home	D Johari Abdul	Salahuddin Ayub	Karpal Singh
Finance	Mohd Azmin Ali	Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad	Lim Guan Eng
Transport	D Zahrain Mohd Hashim	Khalid Samad	Tan Kok Wai
Works	D Kamarul Bahrin Abbas	D Mahfuz Omar	Gobind Singh Deo
Commodities	D Rashid Din	D Wan Abd Rahim Wan Abdullah	Er Teck Hwa
Energy, Green Technology and Water	Tian Chua	Nasir Zakaria	Charles Santiago
International Trade	William Leong	Dr Hatta Ramli	Teresa Kok
Agriculture	Ahmad Kassim	Taib Azamuddin Md Taib	Sim Tong Him
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs	Azan Ismail	Dr Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut	Jeff Ooi
Education	Yusmadi Yusoff	Che Uda Che Nik	Chong Eng
Information, Communication, Arts and Culture	Amran Abdul Ghani	D Mahfuz Omar	Teo Nie Ching
Human Resources	Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid	Muhammad Husin	M Kulasegaran
Science, Technology and Innovation	Nurul Izzah Anwar	Dr Che Rosli Che Mat	Chow Kon Yeow
Housing and Local Government	Hee Loy Sian	Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud	Nga Kor Ming
Defence	Saifuddin Nasution	DS Nizar Jamaluddin	Liew Chin Tong
Rural and Regional Development	Abd Aziz Abd Kadir	D Abd Halim Abd Rahman	M Manogaran
Foreign	R Sivarasa	D Kamarudin Jaffar	P Ramasamy
Sports	Tan Tee Beng	Md Firdaus Jaafar	Anthony Loke
Health	Dr Lee Boon Chye	Dr Mohd Hayati Othman	Dr Tan Seng Giaw
Women, Family and Community Development	Zuraida Kamaruddin	Siti Zailah Mohd Yusuf	Fong Po Kuan
Tourism	S Manikavasagam	D Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah	Fong Kui Lun
Federal Territories	Wee Choo Keong	Dr Lo’Lo Mohd Ghazali	Lim Lip Eng
Higher Education	Zulkifli Noordin	Salahuddin Ayub	Tony Pua
Natural Resources and Environment	N Gobalakrishnan	Dr Mujahid Yusof  Rawa	Chong Chien Jen

NB: DS=Datuk Seri; D=Datuk; TS=Tan Sri