Pressure is mounting for yet another cabinet reshuffle in Malaysia, with the possibility that Prime Minister Najib Razak may be forced to relinquish his post as minister of finance, amid alleged pressure from the ruling party.
Sources said rebels within the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), backed by grass root support, are pressing the Prime Minister to quit his finance ministry post, but the party is facing a dilemma as to who will take over the mantle.
With a groundswell of anti-Najib sentiment rising in several parts of the Umno base, analysts told Singapore based Channel News Asia (CNA), a mini reshuffle of the cabinet is potentially on the cards.
CNA mentioned Wahid Omar, the current Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of Economic Planning, as the hot favorite to take over from Najib.
But sources told The Week this might not go down well with the party's grassroots.
Other candidates mentioned by CNA are Mustapa Mohamed, Minister for International Trade and Industry, and Nazir Razak the Chairman of CIMB Banking Group.
The source said there are chances that neither Mustapa nor Nazir Razak would accept the post.
"Ümno will have to dig deeper to find a successor to Najib as minister of finance," said the source.
He said Nazir would be better placed, but it will not be such a simple matter to get the brother of the Prime Minister to join the cabinet.
Nazir has been an ardent critic of the 1MDB issue, and has been instrumental to the resignation of the CIMB Islamic bank CEO Badlisya Abdul Ghani.
Badlisyah publicly disputed documents used by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) about fund transfers to the prime minister's personal bank accounts.
He was allegedly remonstrated by his boss, Nazir, and effectively resigned from his post on August 15 thus becoming one of the many victims of the 1MDB saga.
Several other prominent personalities has lost their job following their criticism of the 1MDB issue, including former Deputy PM Muhyiddin Yasin and Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail.
A trickle of comments from Barisan National (BN) ministers has shed the light on the possible reasons for the sacking of the AG.
BN strategic communications director Abdul Rahman Dahlan's confession that Gani was about to serve the Prime Minister a charge sheet that would have led to his arrest.
Nevertheless, if Wahid is not nominated minister of finance, the job could go to Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, second minister of finance.
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By The Week Editors
