Najib Cabinet Rewards Base as Chinese Sidelined: Southeast Asia
This article is for subscribers only.
Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak stocked his Cabinet with party stalwarts ahead of a leadership test after a poor showing by his coalition’s ethnic Chinese partners led to its narrowest election win since independence.
Najib tapped leaders of his ruling United Malays Nasional Organisation for key positions before party polls later this year that will determine whether he stays on as prime minister. He also gave posts to the heads of Malaysia’s biggest bank, a corruption watchdog and a Hindu rights group. Two of the new line-up are Chinese, compared with more than a dozen previously.