Have critical friends outside of your inner circles, Anwar tells Cabinet members

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 23 — Cabinet members must not restrict themselves to the views of yes-men and should have other advisers who could be critical of their decisions on policies, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.

Speaking to senior editors in a dialogue session, Anwar conceded that members of his administration have been grappling with their responsibilities in their first year of government.

"My advice to them is to be ready to listen to the secretaries-general and directors-general.

"Always have an alternative group of friends who can advise them and be more critical," he said in the Seri Perdana Complex here.

Anwar also advised his Cabinet to not arbitrarily override policies that have been implemented by Putrajaya.

He said in the past, newly-appointed ministers have fallen prey to two situations: that they were subservient to the whims of civil servants running their ministries, or they chose instead to ignore them and use another avenue to bulldoze their policies.

In addition, Anwar also said that the Cabinet members must recognise the need to work with other ministries and agencies outside their own, pointing to the digitalisation of the government that is not the sole responsibility of the Digital Ministry currently headed by Gobind Singh Deo.

He also lauded Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for wrangling the various initiatives on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) by chairing a committee on the programmes.

Earlier this month, Zahid who chairs the National TVET Council Committee, said that the National TVET Policy is expected to be launched in June 2024.

Zahid clarified that this was not a new policy but the coordination of TVET education activities between 12 ministries and 1,344 TVET institutions across the country.

Anwar had last week announced a reshuffled Cabinet, which saw the formation of two new ministries and the return of several former Cabinet members namely Titiwangsa MP Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, Damansara MP Gobind Singh Deo and Kuala Selangor MP Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad.

Previous Human Resources minister V. Sivakumar is the only Cabinet member to be dropped following a corruption investigation over alleged cash kickbacks from an unnamed businessman who had been detained alongside two ministerial aides.