Too early for major Cabinet reshuffle - KJ

JOHOR BAHRU - Former Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin said it is too early for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to undertake a major Cabinet reshuffle at this time.

He said this is because the current Cabinet ministers are still relatively new and have not served for even two years.

The former Health Minister said that the ministers in the existing Cabinet should be given the opportunity to demonstrate their respective Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

"The Prime Minister has two options: either to fill the vacancies left by the late Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub (Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister) or to carry out a major Cabinet reshuffle.

"So, at this point, it is the Prime Minister's prerogative to decide whether he wants to take this opportunity to make a significant change to the Cabinet lineup.

"But in my view, it may be a bit too early because it hasn't been a year yet, and it's quite extraordinary to have a major Cabinet reshuffle in such a short period," Khairy said when approached by reporters today.

Khairy was attending the Johor International Youth Conference 2023 at the Persada International Convention Centre here today, which was officiated by the Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

Also present was the state's Youth, Sports, Entrepreneurship Development, Cooperatives, and Human Resources exco, Mohd Hairi Mad Shah.

Recently, there has been speculation about a Cabinet reshuffle, with several prominent names being linked, including Tapah MP Datuk Seri M Saravanan and Ayer Hitam MP, Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong.

Rumours of a Cabinet reshuffle arose last week since no one had been appointed as the Minister for Domestic Trade and Cost of Living to succeed Salahuddin Ayub, who died in July.

In further comments, Khairy, who is also the Johor Youth Advisor, said that based on his experience, Cabinet reshuffles are usually carried out after two years to give ministers the opportunity to demonstrate their performance.

"(If) the period is 10 or 11 months, it is definitely not enough for us to see results, even though a decision may have been made early (to carry out the reshuffle).

"But to be fair to the Cabinet ministers, they need a little more time to show their performance," he said.