Dr M knows Malaysians & the World are watching

Dr M is cognizant of the fact that the world is watching.

Dr M is a man in a hurry and he's determined to get the job done. But he is also mindful of public perception. He knows everyone is watching.

That's why after a public backlash over issues involving the Anti-Fake News Act and party-hopping, he quickly made it clear that he was going to do the right thing.

To be honest, not a whole lot of people were bothered by the fact that he wanted to take on the Education portfolio. Fellow leaders within Pakatan like Kit Siang and Anwar said it was okay by them. But the opposition (read: BN) was already making noise about it so Dr M has decided to kill the issue by dropping the portfolio.

There's good and bad in this. I personally think he would have been effective at it this time around. But by dropping this extra portfolio it means he can focus on the various important things he has to do as PM. So, perhaps it's not such a bad thing that he didn't get what he wanted.


It'll be interesting to see who he appoints to this post.

Let him have the education portfolio

The manifesto is clear -- the PM should not take on another ministerial role.

Much has been made about the fact that Dr M is also taking on the Education portfolio. This does seem to contravene Pakatan's manifesto that says the PM won't take on other ministerial roles, especially Finance.

Some Pakatan folks have been scrambling to explain this saying silly things like they thought the manifesto only prohibits the PM from taking on Finance but is okay with other portfolios. That's nonsense.

The reality is that Dr M wants to fix Education and that desire didn't ring any alarm bells so they didn't object. It would be very different if he had wanted to take on Finance. There would be immediate and fervent objections because it'd be too much consolidation of power.

Lim Kit Siang has explained that Dr M's decision to take on Education does not violate the spirit of the manifesto because it was understood that only Finance is off guards. Frankly alarm bells would have gone off if Dr M had tried to take on Home Affairs too. But Education... people are comfortable with him having that.

This is not to say Education is not important. It's very important, especially in the context of nation-building and preparing our citizenry for the future. But most people think Dr M will steer things in the right direction. For example, he will probably revert back to the teaching of Science and Math in English. And there will be a general emphasis on English as well because he has said in many interviews that the language of knowledge is English. Most Malaysians want this.

At a recent press conference he highlighted the fact that the way we educate our kids is outdated and indicated that he would like to incorporate elements of e-learning so that students can learn from the best instructors.

Although he did not talk about integrating students from different races this is a topic that he has touched on many times in the past. The harsh reality is that the vernacular school system, which is deeply entrenched in Malaysian society, does also lead to the polarization of races. Anyone who argues otherwise is simply naive or disingenuous. Yet, it's politically impossible to do away with vernacular schools. Dr M had tried to find a solution to this before with his Wawasan Schools concept but that failed. So, it's a huge challenge for any politician to take on but Dr M is obviously up for that challenge.

I'm personally glad that he is taking on this role. This is a chance for us to really change and improve our education system. I can't imagine anyone else within the Pakatan ranks who would be suitable for fixing our education system. Actually, I can. Ong Kian Ming and Tony Pua, both from DAP, have deep thoughts about education but both are relatively too junior to be education minister, which is also a politically sensitive post. So, Dr M it is. Power to him.

The right man for the job

There's a place and time for everything. This is Dr M's time. Give him two years to right the wrongs in this country.

Some people feel Anwar should take over from Dr M as soon as possible. That's because these people feel Anwar is more of a true reformer than Dr M. They also dislike some of Dr M's authoritarian tendencies and fear that he would go back to his old ways.

Many were dismayed when it was revealed that Anwar will not be returning to active politics so soon. He wants to spend some time with the family and on some speaking tours as well as take up some short-term fellowships in universities overseas.

I believe this is a good thing. Right now, in this period of transition, we need someone stern and determined to get certain things done in double quick time. There are reports Dr M only gets a couple of hours of sleep every night and he did look extremely tired at yesterday's press conference.

Dr M is a man in a hurry because he doesn't have a lot of time. For one thing, he had agreed to hand over the baton in about two years. And secondly, he is 93 years old now. Every moment counts.

His steely determination and his great sense of urgency will propel Pakatan's agenda forward and allow them to achieve much of what they had promised to do within 100 days. For sure they will fall short on some things but what's important is that the main things are achieved.

But some things are happening faster than expected. Initially we thought it might take more than 100 days for GST to be removed. Former Bank Negara Governor Zeti had indicated as much. Then Dr M made it happen just like that (well, technically we have to wait til June but it's a done deal).

Dr M is getting rid of some 17,000 political appointees, which will save the government a lot of money. He is prosecuting the 1MDB case agressively. He has said heads will roll and has decisively imposed travel bans on several top-ranking individuals including the AG and former IGP.

He is moving at a breakneck speed. Anwar would have been slower and probably would have tried to build more consensus before doing anything. He also would have been more forgiving and softer. That's good in some ways but right now what we need is someone hard and unmerciful in executing what needs to be done.

Anwar himself has admitted as much:

"Probably he seems to be the right man… I am a bit more moderate and have a softer image. Because of how I suffered, I always think how any decision would cause sufferings to those affected. So I'm a bit more considerate… and that may not be good in these times when we have to make sure the elements of the old regime do not resurface."

To a friend who told me last night that he thinks Anwar should take over the PM-ship sooner rather than later, I say this: There's a place and time for everything. This is Dr M's time. Give him 100 days to fulfill the manifesto's promises and two years to right many of the wrongs in this country. His personality, his tenacity, his political will -- these are all things that make him eminently suitable for the work that needs to be done now. Two years from now we should have a better country for Anwar to take over and take to greater heights.

The correct way to look at the popular vote

The biggest loser was BN.

A friend recently sent me a Whatsapp message containing an analysis which sensationally mis-concluded that a majority of Malaysians had actually voted against Pakatan Harapan.

This is how that Whatsapp analyst came to his conclusion: Since Pakatan got 48.3% of the popular vote, that must mean the other 51.7% had voted against it.

Superficially that logic seems sound but if you look at the stats more closely, you will see that it is a flawed analysis.

The assertion that the majority of the electorate had voted against Pakatan would be correct if that 51.7% had all belonged to BN. But that's not the case. That 51.7% consists of:

BN (33.9%)
PAS (16.6%)
Others (1.2%).

The Whatsapp analyst had lumped BN with PAS as a single entity competing against Pakatan. That is wrong on two counts. Firstly, PAS had no pact in place with BN. Secondly, PAS was in fact a member of the opposition. Granted, it was not part of Pakatan but it was an opposition party.

It's worth remembering that GE14 was a referendum on BN not on Pakatan. People had a choice: vote for the status quo (keep BN in power) or vote for change (kick BN out).

If you were to add Pakatan's share of 48.3% with PAS's share of 16.6% to derive the opposition's share of the popular vote, you would get 64.9%. That's how much of the electorate wanted to boot BN out.

So the big news is not that Pakatan (sans PAS) had gotten only 48.3% of the popular vote (down from 50.1% in GE13). The big news is that BN had gotten only 33.9% of the popular vote (down from 46.7% in GE13).

Now, going into GE15 (five years from now), it would be correct to lump BN and PAS together because both are now part of the opposition. But that was certainly not the case in GE14.

Checks and balances working Part II

So far, so good.

In an earlier blog posting, I said that Pakatan was fully capable of checking and balancing itself despite the lack of a strong opposition.

Dr M says there's no backtracking on fake news. This, after there was some backlash when he seemed to prevaricate about whether to abolish it or amend it.

Dr M also says no to taking BN defectors. Again, this was after a backlash when he indicated that Pakatan might take in some on a case by case basis.

Skeptics need to understand that the power dynamics within Pakatan are very different than what it was in BN. Dr M is no longer the leader of the biggest party in his coalition. In BN, UMNO dwarfed everyone else. In Pakatan, Bersatu has only 13 MPs while the other three parties (PKR, DAP and Amanah) have 101 MPs combined. This changes everything.

The search begins

What are they looking for?

Police are searching (don't call it a raid) through Najib's home and apparently, four other locations.

This kind of reminds me of how the FBI in the US raided the home of Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen and carted away tons of evidence.

I wonder what the police were looking for in Najib's home and four other locations? Information relating to 1MDB? I would imagine those could be found elsewhere, through forensic accounting etc.

Or are they looking for evidence of wealth beyond a person's means?

Who knows. But one thing is sure, Dr M was not kidding when he said he thinks Najib could be charged soon.

Party-hopping is not a black and white issue

For civil society, the phenomenon of party hopping is considered something bad that should be done away with. It's unethical, they say, because the electorate generally votes for candidates based on the party they represent rather than for the individual. So, if that individual switches sides after winning, in a way they are cheating the electorate.

On that basis, it's pretty cut and dried: party hopping is unethical. But it should be mentioned that party-hopping is not illegal. And from a realpolitik standing, it's actually useful for achieving certain strategic objectives.

It was through party-hopping, for example, that Pakatan was able to take control over Perak and Sabah. It was also through party-hopping that Pakatan was able to gain a 2/3rds majority in Johor.

Perak was an important state to win back because BN had once taken it away from Pakatan through the very act of party hopping. Sabah was important because it was considered a BN fixed deposit. Securing the 2/3rds majority in Johor, the birthplace of UMNO, was important to send a message to all and sundry that the era of BN is truly over.

Now that Pakatan has achieved those things, there really is no pressing reason to continue accepting party-hoppers. And in some cases it should be rejected outright. Sarawak is a case in point. There are reports that the various BN-linked parties there are thinking of quitting BN en masse. But even if they do, Pakatan should not accept them into their fold because of their ties to Taib Mahmud, who is accused by environmental groups and activists of massive corruption.

What had raised a lot of eyebrows was the fact that Dr M had met with Taib recently. That sparked concerns that he was about to invite the Sarawak BN parties into the Pakatan fold. Both PKR and DAP leaders in Sarawak have made their objections clear about any switch by BN-parties there. Committee on Institutional Reforms member Ambiga has even gone as far as to say that Pakatan should act on Taib.

"They (Pakatan) must have the political will to move against Taib, otherwise they are no different from the previous government."

Any attempt by Bersatu to welcome the Sarawak BN parties into the Pakatan fold would be a big mistake. It would fail anyway because the three other parties (PKR, DAP and Amanah) would object.

If those Sarawak parties want to leave BN, fine. Let them do so. But they should be independent parties. They should not be allowed to be a part of Pakatan and enjoy the benefits of being with the party in power.

There is also concern that Bersatu might welcome party-hopping from UMNO members in order to boost its numbers. Bersatu currently has 13 federal seats, which pales in comparison to PKR's 48 and DAP's 42.

Again, it would be a big mistake if Dr M were to allow party-hopping to happen indiscriminately. It's one thing if they allow a handful of BN reps to switch over to attain important strategic goals like winning back Perak or gaining a 2/3rds majority in Johor. It's quite another to accept non-strategic party-hoppers just for the sake of boosting its numbers.

I don't think Bersatu would be foolish enough to encourage en masse BN migration into its fold. But should it try to do so, the other Pakatan parties would need to intervene and say no.

Technically they can't tell Bersatu what to do but being that Bersatu is part of the Pakatan coalition, it has to listen to its partners in order for it to continue enjoying their support (which is crucial for Dr M to stay on as PM).

It'd be easy to simply take the moral high ground and say in very academic fashion that party-hopping is always a bad thing that needs to be avoided at all cost, regardless of the circumstances. That's a real naive way of looking at it.

Let's face it, politics is not a gentlemanly game where all parties agree to play by the rules. You cannot afford to always act gentlemanly, especially when you're up against an opponent who plays dirty. In such cases, you need to use whatever legal tools you have at your disposal. 

Checks and balances working

The likes of people like Ambiga will keep Dr M in check. 

Some people are sounding alarm bells already about the lack of a credible opposition. And what we have currently is a non-credible opposition.

PAS, with 18 MPs is simply too small and BN despite having 78 MPs will be useless as an opposition bloc (if it couldn't even do a good job as the government what chance will it have as the opposition?).

But, as I have pointed out earlier, the lack of a credible opposition doesn't necessarily mean there won't be any checks and balances. The power structure within Pakatan is such that it will be able to provide internal checks and balances.

So far, it's been working.

After Dr M prevaricated on whether or not Pakatan will repeal the Anti-Fake News Act 2018, DAP's Guan Eng came out to say:

"The Harapan position has always been to abolish the Anti-Fake News Act. I will clarify with him (Mahathir) when I see him tomorrow, but I believe his position is still the same. As far as we are concerned, Harapan's position remains the same. We cannot accept that the government – even though we are the government now – determines what is true or false."

For good measure, Ambiga, a member of the newly set-up Committee on Institutional Reform, has said it will prioritize the abolishment of the Anti-Fake News Act 2018.

"Let me tell you my position. The Anti-Fake News Act has to be repealed in total. We know the circumstances in which the act was passed [...] there is no reason to have a fake news and anti-fake news act. I think, once the relevant committee has been set up to review the existing laws that have to be repealed, then the Anti-Fake News Act would probably be the first on the list."

Will Dr M be tempted to retain the Anti-Fake News Act? Frankly, it does sounds like the kind of weapon he would like to yield against his detractors. And his comments about whether to repeal it or amend it was vague at best. This is disappointing but nothing to be concerned about. The others won't let him keep it even if he wanted to.

This is not the 1980s or 1990s when Mahathir ruled Malaysia with an iron fist. Back then he was head of a party that was the lynchpin of a coalition with a 2/3rds majority in parliament. Right now he is the leader of a party that has less than half the number of seats as PKR (47) and DAP (42) each have got on their own (Bersatu has got 13, which is pretty close to Amanah's 11). Even if you don't count Warisan (with its 8 seats), PKR, DAP and Amanah alone has got 100 seats.

In another development, at the state level, Perak DAP was justifiably upset that Perak Bersatu had taken in former Behrang assemblyman Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi, the frog who jumped from PKR to BN in 2009 (and thus causing the Pakatan downfall in that state).

Perak MB Ahmad Faizal Azumu has since issued a statement on this:

"... after taking into account all the information and reasons, I would like to inform all that his application to join Bersatu has been rejected, sans discussion. This decision was made upon the principle that every entry into Harapan, especially in Perak, will be made based on strict consideration to ensure there will not be a repeat of the rakyat’s suffering."

Checks and balances are happening, folks. 

Give the Pakatan government some time

Famed lawyer cum activist Syahredzan Johan posted something worth sharing:

In the aftermath of the historic general elections which swept BN out of power, we have seen various quarters already taking the fledgling new Pakatan government to task for being too slow on this or that or failing to prioritize this or that.

Like Syahredzan my view is that we need to give these folks some time to get things running smoothly. Already as it is Dr M is working at breakneck speed. While he wasn't able to announce all 10 cabinet members, he did quickly name three key ones. Yet even that earned him some brickbats from PKR's Rafizi who said he was acting too fast.

There are many things the new government has to do and in all likelihood it's gonna take more than 100 days to achieve all that it has promised to do. Dismantling GST for example will probably take longer than 100 days. But former Bank Negara Governor (now in the council of elders or eminent persons) Zeti Akhtar has said the council will reveal the steps and measures being taken to dismantle the much-disliked tax.

Frankly, as long people know it is going to be done, they won't mind if it takes a little longer than usual. And Zeti has promised that, saying:

"We will make an announcement of what we want to do within this 100 days. [....] the people will know what is going to be done and how it is going to be done."

It's taken over 60 years to see a change in government. We shouldn't be so impatient after just six days of a new government in place.

Hard to feel sorry for Tony Fernandes

Happier times.

So, shares in AirAsia dipped by as much as 10% when trading resumed on Monday. That's nothing compared to battering Tony Fernandes's reputation has received since he made that infamous video welcoming us into his home and singing praises of the BN government.

He has since apologized, saying among other things:

"My views are actually the same as your views. As you can see from my many speeches, from my Instagram, and my Twitter. I believe so much in this new Malaysia."

Nice words but why does it ring hollow? You want to see something that actually sounds sincere? His pre-GE14 video where he tells us something "from the heart".

Does this look like a hostage tape to you? Well, Tony Fernandes now wants us to believe he really had little choice but to make that video.

Much of what he subsequently describes about being pressured by BN was probably true but let's be clear about something here. Tony Fernandes had a choice. He made his choice and now he is trying to atone for it by claiming that "my views are actually the same as your views".

No they are not.

Tony Fernandes has been a consistent supporter of BN for many election cycles. That's, of course, his right as a citizen and as a businessman who wants to curry favour with the government of the day. But its disingenuous for him to now claim (after the fact) that "I believe so much in this new Malaysia." There wouldn't be any new Malaysia to speak of if voters had actually been swayed by his BN propaganda video.

Now, there might be some who empathize with him after watching his subsequent mea culpa video. After all he is a businessman in a tightly regulated industry. True but what was the government going to do if he had refused to make that hostage tape? Kill off AirAsia?

Tony Fernandes had a choice and he could have stood up to Najib. As Malaysiakini's Mariam Mokhtar articulated so well in her article:

"At school, and in real life, we are urged to stand up to bullies, or report them. Why didn't Fernandes? The rakyat would have rallied behind him. A refusal to kowtow to Najib would have been a metaphorical slap in Najib's face. Instead, he allowed himself to be bullied. Tony went over the top in his praise for Najib. He painted an aeroplane blue, accompanied Najib on his flight, and his cabin crew were decked-out in blue."

Like Khairy, another smooth talker who opted for political expediency rather than acting on good principles, Tony Fernandes had bet on the wrong horse. There is no need to feel sorry for him.

Why PAS doesn't matter

It's downhill from now on for PAS.

By most accounts, PAS did better in GE14 than most serious analysts and political observers had expected. There was even one famous Invoke Malaysia survey which predicted that PAS would be completely wiped out in the elections.

Not only did PAS not get wiped out, it actually won 18 federal seats and took control of two states on the East Coast (Kelantan and Terengganu). On the surface, that looks like a superb result. But is it, really?

Let's look at the federal level first. Yes, 18 seats is far better than the 0 seats that Invoke had predicted but it's not as good as the 21 seats it had won in GE13 and is quite a climb down from the 23 it had won in GE12. As you can see, its federal wins have been on a down trend over the past three election cycles. There's no reason to believe it won't continue to decline.

Now, let's look at the state level. Its win in Terengganu was indeed a surprise but it has controlled Terengganu before (won it in GE10 and lost it in GE11). It even controlled Kedah at one time (won it in GE12 but lost it in GE13).

Do you see a trend here? Unlike its former colleagues in the now defunct Pakatan Rakyat, PAS was not able to hold on to any newly-won state for more than one election cycle. In contrast DAP and PKR have not let go of Penang and Selangor respectively, since they won those states in GE12.

Still, credit goes to PAS for retaining Kelantan and taking back Terengganu. But was this win because people there supported PAS or was it more because they were against BN? Malay Mail columnist Zurairi AR believes it's the latter:

"PAS may have won the east coast states of Kelantan and Terengganu, but that did not necessarily signal endorsement for its Islamist policies. It was more likely an indication of the public’s eagerness to kick Najib Razak and BN out, and PAS just happened to be the Opposition that was familiar enough to them."

Zurairi also highlights some interesting points in his column that I wasn't aware of. Most likely you weren't too unless you follow PAS politics very closely.

For example, did you know that just one day before the elections, a pro-Islamist group called Gerakan Pengundi Sedar (GPS) released a list of 26 seats (all PAS candidates) that it said must be won by Muslims? As it turned out, not a single one of those seats was won by PAS candidates and 15 of them actually lost their deposits. These so-called "must win" seats were indeed a wipe-out for PAS.

According to Zurairi, another group called Ummah published a declaration two days before the elections pledging the support of its five million members for candidates who are staunch supporters of Islamic superiority.

Five million should translate to a lot of votes. But Malay Mail's calculation puts the popular vote for PAS at roughly one million. That's less than 10% of the total registered voters in this country, and as Zurairi noted, a far cry from the five million that Ummah had promised to deliver. So what happened to the other four million of Ummah's members? They obviously either voted for Pakatan or BN (or did not vote at all).

Whatever the case, a green tsunami this was not.

PAS might not have been wiped out as some Pakatan supporters had hoped but it was a big loser in one respect: It failed in its ambition to be a kingmaker in several states. This was most obvious in the state of Perak where it thought it could set terms for helping one side or the other to form the state government there. In the end, Pakatan formed the state government in Perak without PAS's help (through two defections from BN). Instead of giving in to PAS's demands, Pakatan circumvented it instead. So not only did PAS not get its way, it's not even part of the Perak government. Instead, it's a lowly opposition party with three state seats (the other opposition party, UMNO, has 27).

So, while PAS generally did better in GE14 than expected it's hardly a harbinger of things to come. Far from growing in strength it will become weaker over the next few years. In keeping with its track record of losing newly-won states, it will probably lose Terengganu in GE15. Heck, it might even lose Kelantan.

Impossible, you say? Consider this. As the rest of the country zooms ahead in economic development under a dynamic new Pakatan government, the folks in Kelantan and Terengganu will be left to wonder why their economy isn't quite as robust.

And unlike in GE14, in the next general elections there will be no need for any protest votes against BN (by then BN would have been severely weakened to the point where it's just not relevant anymore, and might even cease exist as a coalition).

So, the good folks Kelantan and Teregganu will have a clear choice between PAS and Pakatan. They will have to decide whether they want five more years of stagnation or whether they want to join the rest of the country in progressing towards developed nation status.

Invoke's sensationalist prediction of a PAS wipe out was way off for GE14 but it might actually be spot on for GE15.

How a powerful Pakatan can avoid being BN 2.0

There will be some built in checks and balances on Pakatan and on Dr M.

One of the popular messages going around in social media and Whatsapp is the warning that Pakatan must avoid becoming BN 2.0.

It's inevitable that Pakatan will become like BN in one regard, which is that it will dominate the Malaysian political landscape. As I had articulated before, nobody wants to be left behind on a sinking ship.

In the coming days and weeks, you will see more and more BN reps -- both at the federal and state level -- jumping ship. In some cases it can be a wholesale jump, such as in Sarawak where it's possible that all of the BN-linked parties there will dump BN en masse. In Sabah, four parties have already left BN and counting.

Even UMNO's long-suffering little brother, MCA, has said that it is rethinking its position within BN. Although they haven't articulated it, I'm sure  leaders in MIC and Gerakan are pondering the same thing.

It's hardly a bold prediction to say that within months, we could see BN falling apart and what you'll have left is a bunch of opposition parties going their own ways and pursuing their own agendas -- much like how it was when Pakatan parties were in the opposition.

It will be a role reversal. Pakatan will be as strong as BN was in its peak. And BN-parties will be as weak and fractured as Pakatan parties were at one time. So, in terms of dominance, Pakatan will become just like BN.

As a general rule of thumb, it's never a good thing for a party or coalition to be so strong that the opposition is but a token presence.

Granted, sometimes such situations can still result in good governance. Just look at Singapore. It's basically a one-party system. But there's hardly any corruption, and everything's efficient, etc. This is rare though. A one-party system is usually bad for the country.

How can Pakatan avoid becoming BN 2.0 if there is no credible opposition to check its powers (and thus potential abuses)?

The answer lies in the power-structure and dynamics among its five core parties -- PKR, DAP, Amanah, Bersatu and Warisan -- who because of their rivalry, will naturally check and balance each other out.

In BN everything was dictated by one party. That is not the case in Pakatan because no one party is as powerful as UMNO once was. Let's look at the numbers, shall we?

Pakatan has 122 MPs
PKR: 48
DAP: 42
Bersatu: 13
Amanah: 11
Warisan: 8

PKR, with 48, has the most number of seats. DAP, with 42, is a close second. It also happens to be very close with Amanah which has 11. Combined, they have 53 which means PKR can't run roughshod over these two parties.

Bersatu has only 13 seats but it has Dr M, who happens to be the prime minister. That gives it clout that is disproportionate to its numbers. Warisan has the least number of federal seats in the coalition but it's Pakatan's strongest party in East Malaysia, which gives it some disproportionate clout. Warisan is also close to Bersatu. Combined, they have 21 seats (plus Dr M). That's nothing to sneeze at. So, really, no one party can dominate. And for that reason alone, Pakatan can never become a BN 2.0.

Speaking of Dr M, there are some concerns among some Pakatan supporters that he will go back to his old ways now that he is the PM again. It's true that a PM wields great authority but a Pakatan PM does not have the same kind of autonomy that a BN PM had. Again, you have to look at the power structure within Pakatan and understand that it's not possible for Dr M to do whatever he wants.

Let's say, purely for the sake of discussion, he wants to re-introduce the ISA. The other parties won't let him. It's as simple as that. He may be the PM but only because all the other MPs in Pakatan support him to hold that position. That support would erode very quickly if he were to try to do something against the principles and spirit the coalition was founded upon.

So, there will be checks and balances on Pakatan (and on Dr M). It just won't come from the opposition but rather from within. 

PKR needs to let Dr M do his job

Why is Rafizi doing this? Now is not the time for airing grouses in public.

After 61 years of BN rule, people want the new Pakatan government to get off the ground running. And Dr M duly complied.

If anyone was concerned that Najib and gang might be let off the hook in some kind of amnesty deal, that notion was quashed when Dr M announced that the AG and MACC would be investigated for any potential cover-ups. He also ordered the police to unseal the 1MDB reports. For good measure he barred Najib and Rosmah from leaving the country. And before the night was through, he had the police raid one of Najib's apartments in search for documents and Birkin bags (not kidding).

As for his Cabinet, Dr M quickly announced that it would be a small (actually very tiny) one with only 10 portfolios named. He subsequently named three key ministers: Lim Guan Eng for Finance, Mat Sabu for Defence and Muhyiddin for Home Affairs. Seven more would be named later after further consultation.

He also named Daim (former Finance Minister), Zeti (former Bank Negara Governor), Robert Kuok (Malaysia's richest tycoon), Hassan (former Petronas President) and KS Jomo (prominent economist) as members of a council of elders to advise the government.

The immediate general public reaction on social media was very positive. People liked the fact that all component parties were represented in the initial line up of ministers. The fact that Guan Eng, as a Chinese, was named Finance Minister is a breaking of the glass ceiling of sorts. After Tun Tan Siew Sin was named the first Finance Minister after Merdeka, there has never been another non-Malay in that role. Some people might question Mat Sabu's suitability for Defence but they liked that Amanah got such a prominent position. Muhyiddin for Home Affairs seems right. It's a prominent position fitting of his seniority.

As for the council of elders, it's also a pretty good slate of people. Some might be critical of the fact that Daim is an old guard from BN but none less than Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew had very high regard for his capabilities. Zeti has a sterling reputation. Kuok, of course, is a great businessman. Hassan a solid professional. Jomo was a smart addition that would particularly please the Pakatan crowd as he was known to be highly critical of BN.

All good, right? Well, PKR's Rafizi wasn't too happy with the fact that Dr M seemed to have negotiated the key cabinet positions with everyone except PKR. If that's true we can only speculate as to the reason why that was so. But the fact of the matter is that PKR is already represented in the Cabinet. Wan Azizah is the Deputy Prime Minister. It's also been reported that Dr M later went to see Anwar in hospital to discuss Cabinet matters.

That being the case, why is Rafizi doing this? Does it help to publicly show that fissures already exist so soon? Everybody knows that Pakatan parties bicker all the time but now is not the time to publicly display it. If you look at the comments on social media you'll see that supporters of Pakatan in general feel that such open bickering is not right.

Even former Bersih chief Ambiga felt compelled to comment: "PKR please stop your nonsense." She went on to say, "I fully support the appointments by the prime minister. Please put country above all else. The rakyat did!"

It could very well be true that PKR had not yet agreed to finalize who the top three Cabinet ministers would be but it's hard to imagine they were not consulted at all. And if it was true that Dr M had jumped the gun and named those three before Anwar had actually signed off on it, Anwar should be the one who confronts Dr M about this matter, and in private rather than publicly like what Rafizi did.

Now is not the best time for public bickering, especially when the appointments are good ones that the public actually supports.

At 92 going onto 93, Dr M literally does not have a lot of time. There's a ton of work to be done and he's off to a flying start. The public wants him to go after those who were responsible for the 1mdb scandal. The public also wants him to quickly name an effective Cabinet that is well represented by all component parties.

We want action, we want results and we want it fast. Dr M seems intent to deliver. PKR would do well to let him do his job and intervene when he fails to implement what has been promised. Not when he's doing what the public expects of him.