From:
Date: 10 Dec 1999
Time: 23:15:09
What the opposition says
PAS president Datuk Fadzil Nor said the new Cabinet announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday is an "antique" and something which has no significance to help Malaysia move into the new millennium.
"This shows that Umno has nobody who is good in religious affairs and has to fall back on someone although the majority of the rakyat do not believe in him.
"Overall the new line-up was nothing 'exciting' to the Barisan Alternatif."
He also said there was no representation from Terengganu and Kelantan which went to PAS in the elections.
"This is as if the Government did not care about the plight of the rakyat from both states who are of Malay majority," he added.
TERENGGANU Mentri Besar Abdul Hadi Awang hailed the new Cabinet line-up and expressed the hope that it would strengthen relations and co-operation between the Federal Government and the PAS-led state administration.
He said the state government would extend full co-operation to the Federal Government led by Dr Mahathir in the "family-state" of the Federation of Malaysia.
"We hope that the Federal Government will review its policies in the light of the results of the general election for the betterment of the people," he said.
DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang has described the new Cabinet as a "Jurassic" line-up, saying many "old tired faces" had been retained.
"Political deadwood in the previous Cabinet should have been dropped so as to inspire confidence in government leadership in ushering the nation into the new millennium," he said in a statement.
Lim claimed even the new ministers had not distinguished themselves as millennium leaders with an open and liberal outlook who could "break the shackles of the past".
Lim noted that Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was absent in the line-up despite speculation he would return as Finance Minister.
PARTI Keadilan Nasional described the new Cabinet as a reflection of the "paucity of credible, capable and committed leaders within the Barisan Nasional."
Keadilan deputy president Dr Chandra Muzaffar said the new line-up would not inspire public confidence.
"By re-appointing defeated candidates such as Datuk Dr Abdul Hamid Othman to their old positions, Dr Mahathir has shown that he does not care for the feelings of the voters," he said.
He said Dr Mahathir had also ignored the fact that there had been a serious erosion of popular support for Barisan by retaining ministers like Tun Daim Zainuddin, Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik, Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz, Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik and Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.