KUALA LUMPUR: Parliament should not be dissolved simply because of questions surrounding a cabinet reshuffle when the government remains functional and commands majority support, said Deputy Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Dr Fuziah Salleh.
She said that after nearly four years of the Unity Government, the country should be able to focus on more pressing priorities, including investment, job opportunities, the cost of living and the long-standing institutional reform agenda.
“That is why I believe the proposal to dissolve Parliament when the government is still functioning and has majority support should not be raised lightly, especially when the original issue concerns only a cabinet reshuffle.
“A cabinet reshuffle is part of the process of strengthening the administration. It should not be used as a reason to reopen an episode of political uncertainty that we have experienced before,” she said in a Facebook post today.
The Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) secretary-general said the political instability between 2020 and 2022, when the country was grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, job losses and cost-of-living pressures, should serve as a lesson on the importance of maintaining a stable government.
She said efforts to strengthen governance, combat corruption and improve national institutions required policy continuity and a stable administration to ensure that the benefits reached the people.
Differences of opinion among leaders, she added, could be discussed without undermining the stability the country was working to build.
Fuziah also cautioned against allowing political interests to take precedence over the nation’s future and the well-being of the people, who had long borne the consequences of political uncertainty.
Recently, certain quarters have called for Parliament to be dissolved instead of proceeding with a cabinet reshuffle, following the impending end of Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan’s term as a Dewan Negara member on Dec 11.