Politics in the Cabinet
Before PRU-14, the four component parties of Pakatan Harapan have agreed to elect Mahathir as the Prime Minister if they win PRU-14. The coalition need his reputation to ensure the people that Malaysia will be handled by a capable leader while waiting for Anwar Ibrahim to be release from prison.
From the power distribution in the cabinet, PKR was given 4 positions distributed to three individuals. Wan Azizah is holding Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Women and Family Development. It can be a preparation for when Anwar replace Mahathir.
If Anwar step up as PM, it is natural for Wan Azizah to step down as DPM. If both PM and deputy are from PKR while being husband and wife, they will be accused of practicing nepotism. However, Wan Azizah will still be inside the cabinet because of his portfolio as Minister of Women and Family Development. This could be the reason on why she is holding two ministerial positions.
Now, Mahathir is influential within the coalition. Not only because he is the Prime Minister, but also because of his reputation. The public viewed him as the only person that could oust Barisan Nasional and repair Malaysia from the mess that Najib left behind. Therefore, PPBM was given an equal representative in the cabinet despite having the poorest winning ratio in Pakatan Harapan.
On the other hand, Mahathir have to satisfy DAP and Amanah because they are the kingmaker for either PPBM or PKR to be in charge. DAP and Amanah are not strong enough to be in charge of Pakatan Harapan.
DAP is only capable of attracting districts that have low percentage of Malay voters. Thus, DAP going head on with either PKR or PPBM is an unwise move. For Amanah, they have a niche target with their Islamic modernism ideology. PAS supporters in Kelantan and Terengganu have shown that they are not fond of Amanah in PRU-14. Those were their target voters and they failed to get their votes.
To satisfy DAP and Amanah, Mahathir gave an equal representative for DAP and Amanah in his cabinet. DAP have multiracial members, which is great for Tun M. Now, MIC is no longer in power and the Indians will feel even more oppressed if there are zero Indian representative in the cabinet. Hence, DAP Kulasegaran Murugeson was elected as the Minister of Human Resources. Moreover, Tun M also elected Gobind Singh as the Minister of Multimedia and Communication. He is the first Sikh politician to be appointed as minister in Malaysia.
As of for now, every component party had their fair share of the cake. Besides, we have to bear in mind that Warisan has yet to get their slice of the cake. They did their part in capturing Sabah which contributed to the victory of Pakatan Harapan. Will Tun Mahathir give out equal distribution when he announces his full cabinet?