KUALA LUMPUR - There is nothing wrong with appointing political leaders as ministers as long as they are equipped to handle the job.
Umno Vice-President Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said Malaysia is a democratic country and political leaders or anyone can be appointed as a minister as long as the person is aware of government policies and has interests in building the nation.
"There are several countries that have appointed academicians as ministers that have worked out well for them, " he told Sinar Daily.
Mahdzir believes that anyone who holds the Education portfolio must be well-versed in the country's educational policies.
" For example in Malaysia, we are a multi-racial country; we have so many vernacular schools in Malaysia, "It’s important for the leader to understand the education policies very well because our school system here is unique and not similar to other countries," he added.
Mahdzir explained that education can be really subjective as results can't only be seen from data, but can be seen from the quality of the human capital that is produced.
Mahdzir was responding to a statement by former education minister Dr Maszlee Malik who had said that politicians should not be given the education and higher education portfolios after the 16th general election.
The PKR central leadership council member said these positions should be filled by academics instead, adding that they would be in a better position to determine the direction of the ministries.
Maszlee had held the Education portfolio during Pakatan's first stint in 2018 led by Tun Dr Mahathir before resigning in January 2020. He failed to defend his parliamentary seat in GE15 and also lost the contest for the Layang-Layang seat during the Johor state election in March last year.
It was also reported that Higher education minister Khaled Nordin had taken a dig at him due to his statement "Maybe he can be appointed if he wins (a parliamentary seat) in the next general election,” he had said.