Constructive views welcome: Salleh
Published on: Thursday, July 30, 2015
Kuala Lumpur: New Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Mohd Salleh Tun Said Keruak said Wednesday he welcomed constructive views in the implementation of government policies. This is in line with the concept of collective leadership that used the approach of considering the best means so that the people understood and accepted government policies, he said. "We cannot work in isolation; we have to consider the ideas out there and determine how we can improve the situation," he told reporters after being sworn in as a Senator in the Dewan Negara at Parliament House. The Minister took his oath of office before Dewan Negara President Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang.
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Later, Dr Mohd Salleh was sworn in as a Minister, along with the other new Ministers, before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah, at the Istana Negara. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Tuesday announced a Cabinet reshuffle in which he also named Dr Mohd Salleh as the new Communications and Multimedia Minister to succeed Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek who takes over the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry portfolio. In responding to the appointment, Dr Mohd Salleh pledged to strive to ensure that all policies under Najib's leadership were well implemented, and thanked the Prime Minister for placing his trust in him. After Dr Mohd Salleh was sworn in as a senator, Abu Zahar, in his speech, advised the Minister to play his role in uniting the people.
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"Your Excellency's experience and knowledge as the Speaker of the Sabah Legislative Assembly will be important in discharging the duties of a Minister," he said. Dr Mohd Salleh, who is also a former Chief Minister of Sabah, has been the Speaker of the Sabah Assembly since 2011. He resigned from the post on Tuesday after he was appointed Minister.
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The Usukan assemblyman was Sabah's ninth chief minister in the mid-90s while Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister.His father, Mohamad Said Keruak, was Sabah's fourth chief minister 20 years earlier and went on to become the state's Yang di-Pertua Negeri.In recent months, he emerged as one of Najib's strongest defenders. He had said it was pointless for the premier to answer his critics on problems surrounding troubled 1MDB when they will never be satisfied with any answer.Salleh also pulled no punches against veteran leader Dr Mahathir, frequently criticisng the elder statesman for his attacks against Najib and 1MDB.When Dr Mahathir highlighted 1MDB's RM42 billion debt, Salleh said that larger amounts had been lost during Dr Mahathir's 22 years as prime minister."The Forex losses alone came to RM58 billion at today's value, and adding to the RM20 billion Malaysia Airlines disaster, that comes to RM78 billion," he had said.He had also taken Dr Mahathir to task for pushing for a quick inquiry into 1MDB, adding that it was puzzling why the latter wanted speed over thoroughness."Should not thoroughness be more of the essence than speed? Why go for speed at the expense of accuracy? he had asked in another blog posting two months ago. The prolific blogger even uploaded a blog post hours before Najib's Cabinet reshuffle announcement, denouncing Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's open criticism against the Putrajaya's handling of 1MDB.When opening the Cheras Umno divisional meeting two nights ago, Muhyiddin had said many Cabinet members were in the dark over 1MDB and that he had to read The Edge to get information on troubled firm."This is not only a very mischievous statement meant to create the wrong impression but it also insinuates that the rest of the Cabinet members are total idiots who do not what is happening."What do they discuss at the weekly Cabinet meetings, then, or do the Cabinet members just go to sleep?"It is clear that Muhyiddin's statement yesterday is a disguised vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister for allegedly keeping the entire country in the dark."In that case, the noble and honourable thing for Muhyiddin to do is, just like what Tun Musa Hitam did, to resign to demonstrate that since he no longer has confidence in the Prime Minister then based on principles he can no longer remain in the government," Salleh blogged.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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