Malaysia currently has no Deputy Prime Minister… here’s how that could change

Ever since Prime Minister Ismail Sabri ascended to the top office of PM, the Deputy seat has been gathering dust and largely forgotten… until recently, that is.

Yes, as it turns out, current PM and Bapa Keluarga Malaysia Ismail has allegedly decided that the time is right to reshuffle the family and restore a long-lost member to the Keluarga Kabinet™, namely, the post of DPM. The issue is allegedly being discussed with previous PM Mahiaddin Yasin:

“Nothing’s been decided yet, it may be next week after the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. ” – Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri

Although Ismail has passed it off as mere speculation, we thought that it would be interesting to discuss anyway, so we’ve provided the probability out of 10 for the three names reportedly being put forward for Malaysia’s No. 2 spot, based on their recent contributions and/or slip-ups.

1) Faizal Azumu

Probability: 4/10

Say what you want about Youth and Sports Minister Dato’ Seri Faizal Azumu (aka Peja), but it looks like he is-reali serious when it comes to fighting injustice, as can be seen from his comments on Israeli athletes competing in Malaysia:

“When the international sporting body (WSF) appointed Malaysia as the hosts, they should have known that we would not allow Israeli athletes in… Israel discriminates against the Palestinians and also dominates the world by proxy. That’s what we should be fighting against.” – Dato’ Seri Faizal Azumu

But despite his show of force against Israel, he’s been criticized for his handling of the flood situation in Malaysia, which, to put it politely, did not go swimmingly. Netizens were outraged when Peja staged a ‘launching’ ceremony to ‘officiate’ rescue efforts for flood victims. So much so that even ex-PM Najib Razak panned the ceremony, and you know it’s serious when Bossku speaks out against something.

To his credit, he later came out and admitted his fault, but soon found himself in hot water again when he admitted to flying to Dubai mid-flood crisis to see his two sons, whom he had not seen in two years. However, he ultimately decided to return after only 12 hours due to ‘restlessness’ over the country’s situation. Not helping his image is the fact that he’s also cut funding to the National Sports Council’s Podium Programme, leaving some athletes dissatisfied:

“It definitely feels like I’ve been used and then tossed away.” – Low Wee Wern, former squash World No. 5

It’s been said that Peja’s potential role as DPM is still being negotiated, but it’s also been said that the floods would make or break our politicians’ careers. Have his chances for DPM been completely washed away? Guess we’ll find out soon.

2) Hamzah Zainudin

Probability: 7/10

Home Minister Dato’ Seri Hamzah Zainudin has been a busy man: recently, he successfully pushed through a bill against human trafficking (with a new app to go with it), tightened border control, set up a police unit to investigate custodial deaths, and is in talks with the Ministry of Finance to get allocations for clinical checkups for potential lockup detainees.

He’s also been putting contributions towards flood relief, mobilizing a police Light Strike Force (LSF) to prevent theft of vehicles, in light of increased looting incidences in flood-hit areas. Putting the cherry on the cake, he announced that victims who lost their identity documents to the floods can also replace those for free:

“Now the flood victims can focus on cleaning up their homes or shops.” – Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin

But that doesn’t mean he’s been totally free from controversy: last year, the National Patriots Association (Patriot) demanded Hamzah’s sacking after a leaked audio clip featured him discussing top police appointments, referring to certain members as ‘orang kita’. However, he argued that he did nothing wrong there, instead turning the tables to suggest that the one who recorded the private conversation was at guilt.

Oh, and his people still can’t find Jho Low. But then again, no one can, so it’s probably hard to blame him for that.

Barring the leaked audio clip, Hamzah has stayed relatively under the radar, and could be the ‘sensible’ choice in the running for DPM. It’s been reported that he’s currently tied with our next candidate for the No. 2 spot too, though the latter seems to have a slight advantage (which we’ll talk about in a bit).

3) Azmin Ali

Probability: 9/10

Here we go again?

Now serving as Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry, Dato’ Seri Azmin Ali has possibly come the closest to becoming DPM among the three; he was allegedly then-PM Mahiaddin’s top pick for the role last year, before he opted to have four Senior Ministers instead of one DPM, with Azmin tasked with chairing Mahiaddin’s Cabinet in his absence.

He also appears to be on good terms with other parties as well, with PAS rep Datuk Khairuddin Aman Razali calling him the “best choice” thanks to his good relations with PAS and UMNO. However, he isn’t popular all around, especially after he allegedly threatened to withdraw support for PM Ismail Sabri (though his camp later denied this):

“Appointing Azmin as DPM would be suicidal.” – Puad Zarkashi, UMNO Supreme Council

It doesn’t seem like this will have any bearing on his bid for DPM though; like we said earlier, Azmin has the advantage of reportedly still being Muhyiddin’s first choice for the post, hence our high probability rating for Abah’s favorite. Of course, we could be wrong though.

But the question is: do we really need a DPM though?

Not saying we don’t, but much, much more than who the next DPM will be, the more important thing to consider is what they will be doing, and how it will change things for the better. Keep in mind that the role of Deputy Prime Minister is not mandated by the Constitution, although Mahiaddin’s cabinet was the first in Malaysian history to not have one.

Whoever gets the post will no doubt be thrust into murky waters to navigate, what with the recent flood crisis that has hit the nation. It would be interesting to see what changes, if any, will be made to our government with this new appointment, for sure.