Duo should have let PM decide on Cabinet posts, says Sarawak minister

Free Malaysia Today

30-05-2025

Sarawak minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad should have let the prime minister decide 'instead of throwing in their resignation letters'. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA : A Sarawak minister said Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who resigned from the Cabinet following their defeats at the PKR polls, should have let Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim decide if they should vacate their posts.
Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said while it was within Rafizi and Nik Nazmi's right to resign as ministers, they should have been cognisant of the fact that a ministerial post was the prerogative of the prime minister.
'Personally, I feel that they should have just indicated their willingness to vacate their position as ministers and let Anwar make the final decision on whether they should stay or not as ministers, instead of throwing in their resignation letters,' he told FMT.
Karim said their resignations could create political and economic instability, especially for Malaysia as a whole.
Economy minister Rafizi and natural resources and environmental sustainability minister Nik Nazmi, who failed to defend their deputy presidency and vice-presidency, respectively, last week, resigned from their posts on Wednesday.
While Rafizi had promised to step down from his ministerial post if he failed in his bid to be re-elected, Nik Nazmi said he recognised that his previous post as PKR vice-president was among the main considerations for his appointment to Anwar's Cabinet.
Following their resignations, the two were hailed as being either principled or irresponsible.
Karim, who had been in a similar position before, said he could understand the frustration of being ousted in the PKR elections, but said 'that's politics'.
'Somehow, I hoped they placed the well being of the nation before deciding to quit,' he said.
In February, Karim had said that he was willing to step down as the state minister of tourism, creative industry and performing arts, as well as state minister of youth, sports and entrepreneur development after he was ousted as a Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu vice-president.
He, however, said he would leave the final decision to premier Abang Johari Openg, who said later that there would be no reshuffle.
Karim was later appointed PBB information chief.
Separately, the CEO of think tank Center for Market Education (CME), Carmelo Ferlito, said he did not see any radical change ahead following Rafizi's resignation.
Ferlito said he did not see Rafizi as a key driver of economic policies in the past years.
'Not because of him, but in general, the government has not announced or implemented measures which are going to be game changers in the race for investments,' he told FMT.
He said that despite talk about subsidy rationalisation, 'nothing much happened', adding that he only observed fragmented measures that were often not beneficial to businesses, such as e-invoicing.