Earlier today prime minister Anwar Ibrahim announced a cabinet reshuffle that was long overdue. It was disappointing to many as it was more a change of deckchairs than any badly needed introduction of new blood.
However, any reshuffle at this stage will make little difference to the fate of the ‘Madani government’. What is really needed is a clear spelling out of people-centered policies with clear KPIs set for the people to judge.
What the Madani government really needs is a total reset rather than playing around with who heads portfolios.
The Madani framework launched early in 2023 was just that, a framework. There was never any comprehensive package of mutually agreed coalition policies that was ever launched and/or publicized. Madani was just a label put on any government output.
The principles of sustainability, wellbeing, innovation, respect, trust, and compassion were just vague ideals, never policies. If the Madani government with the same leadership is to go into any second term intact a set of definite policies must now be announced with tangible outcomes (KPIs) set so people can judge the government’s performance before the next general election.
From this perspective, today’s reshuffle was a non-event. Madani needs to reinvent itself by setting out tangible outcomes it expects to achieve over the next two years. These must be people-centric, not rises in GDP or the strength of the Ringgit and FDI. The government must tell the average person how they will be better off and show it.