"THE best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it."
This quote came from Theodore Roosevelt who was the 26th president of the United States. It elucidates that a good leader must know how to choose his staff to get things done right so he wouldn't need to supervise them.
This principle applies to any type of organization be it a business, a political party or a government. When a corporation is facing a serious crisis, the first thing it would do is plan for restructuring.
It is inevitable for organizations to 'refresh' its staff member to recover from mire.
In some ways, the country's government is going through a turmoil and to say that the Cabinet is in much need of fresh faces would be an understatement. For one, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) no longer enjoy its overwhelming dominance it had for the longest time and many feel it is not improbable that the coalition could lose out in the soon-to-be-held election, let alone regain its two-thirds majority.
Najib's report card
In the tabling of the progress report of the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), anchored on the Government Transformation Programme (GTP), two weeks ago, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had presented statistics and figures showing that most of the National Key Result Areas (NKRA) goals have been met. "Impressive", "Flying Colors” and "On Track" were splashed as headlines across the media following Najib's presentation of his 'report card'.
Statistics furnished by government agencies is one thing but on the ground public opinion is another. With some statistics on corruption and white collar crimes provided by international agencies contradicting those presented by our prime minister, one might have the impression that the report card may be a mere 'window dressing' for the impending polls.
The rakyat should assess
Let's take just three main concerns of the rakyat: corruption, crime and the rising cost of living. Do we sincerely feel that there's significantly less corruption now than there was before? Do we feel safe enough to walk in the back alleys in the Klang Valley like we would in other cities like, say, Singapore or Hong Kong? Do we feel safe leaving the gates of our homes open? Are homes and cars more affordable now than before?
These are questions we need to ask the man on the street, not the well-to-do ministers living in secured homes and driving six-figure luxury cars.
Transformation, reform begins at home
Launched in January 2012, the GTP came after the government recognized that the seemingly underperformance of its institutions was largely due to the status quo, i.e. the limitations of the way the government was structured and organized. "Thus in order to bring about 'Herculean change', this limitation had to be removed, or in other words, transformed into a totally different organization," the GTP website reads. It also states the GTP is "an ambitious, broad-based programme of change to fundamentally transform the Government into an efficient and rakyat-centered institution."
The GTP looks good on paper but the government cannot pull it off convincingly without political will. Changing organizational behavior requires changing the attitude and belief of its personnel. The sense of purpose and commitment of the organization's leadership also play a critical role in the results it accomplishes. So an organization's performance ultimately rests on human behavior and improving performance requires changing behavior. Unfortunately for Najib and the rakyat, his ministers haven't really been toeing the line.
Losing control
No doubt that the GTP is a very good initiative by Najib, however, he does not always get the support he needs from his ministers. According to a BN source, most of Najib's ministers are more concerned about taking care of their self-interests than the GTP.
"The ministers are more interested in lining their own pockets than anything else," the former Umno member of parliament told Malaysian Digest recently.
It must be very frustrating for Najib who has been working a seven-day week schedule for the longest time. While his efforts made his own popularity grow, the same cannot be said of his party. In an interview last year on Universiti of Malaya's Centre of Democracy and Elections' (UMCEDEL) survey, which found a slight drop in the people's support towards Najib, political analyst Wan Saiful Wan Jan said: "Although the government had noble intentions, there could be unintended consequences."
He also expressed concern over Najib's popularity superseding the leader's party.
"I'm not too concerned about this (dip in Najib's popularity in opinion polls) but I'm more concerned about the continuous drop in Umno's popularity. I think this has been the trend where Najib is more popular than the party which he leads," he had told Malaysian Digest.
The need for new blood
The prime minister should have sensed that something was not quite right in BN when its second biggest component party replaced a decent president with a scandalous former minister. The latter's decision to quit his minister post in 2008 did the Cabinet good but the party electing him as chairman was anything but good for the party in question as well as its coalition BN. There was of course another minister who quit over alleged links of wrongdoing during Najib's first-term premiership, but why wait for them to be caught?
Najib is well aware of the need to nip the problem in the bud and there is more than one reason for him to take this proactive action. After all, in the long run, it is not only for the people's benefit but also for his own.
Former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin is of the same opinion when he said in a recent interview that Najib needs new faces on his team to strengthen public support for the administration as there is "too much deadwood" in the current Cabinet.
"Najib should reshuffle the Cabinet. Bring new faces. People think he is carrying too much deadwood in the Cabinet.
"Most are already past their use-by date," he said in the New Sunday Times interview.
He was agreed by former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who last week said filling the new Cabinet with young blood will help strengthen support for Najib.
"I agree entirely. Lots of deadwood should be chopped down and thrown away and new trees grown," Dr Mahathir had said.
Opinions are abundant on who are some of the 'old guards' who should make way for fresh blood in the new Cabinet, with the most mentioned being Information, Culture and Communication Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economic Planning Unit) Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yackop, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Unity and Performance Management) Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon, and even de factor law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz.
There are two major reasons why Najib should axe old guards. Firstly, it would give hope to the rakyat that the government stays current and relevant. Secondly, it shows that he has guts and is committed to doing whatever it takes to fight corruption. Many opine that he has been half-hearted in weeding out corruption because it's too deeply rooted within his own party. This means Najib needs to get rid of ministers who are not genuinely committed in supporting his cause to show that he really means business.
Najib is likely to take heed to Daim's advice as this comes from a man who was on point when he predicted that BN would lose its two-thirds majority and four states prior to Election 2008.
The question is, will we see any major pre-election reshuffling soon or does Najib feel the current Cabinet setup has what it takes to restore public confidence and, in turn, steer a win for his party?
http://www.malaysiandigest.com/opinion/301712-removing-skeletons-in-the-cabinet-.html