Is Malaysia suffering from an attack of Adviser-mania, where Prime Minister Ismail Sabri will have 31 Special Advisers, shadowing the 38 Ministers in his Cabinet, while each Minister will have a Special Adviser each?

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Abdul Latiff Ahmad, has told Parliament that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri has three special advisors who advise him on health, religion as well as on law and human rights.

The Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said is Ismail Sabri’s law and human rights advisor, Kedah Umno chief Jamil Khir Baharom is Ismail Sabri’s religious advisor while a committee member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Science Council and former dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, Dr. Adeeba Kamulzaman is expected to be Ismail Sabri’s health adviser.

The Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, has a special advisor in Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin – former deputy health minister.

Is Malaysia suffering from an attack of Adviser-mania, where Prime Minister Ismail Sabri would eventually have 31 or more special Advisers, shadowing the 31 Ministers in the Cabinet, while each Minister will have a Special Adviser each?

When we reach this stage, there will be no need for weekly Cabinet meetings, as they can be replaced by weekly Special Advisers’ meetings.

What is the justification for the appointment of Prime Minister’s Special Advisers on portfolios when there are already Ministers? Is this not a reflection of the Prime Minister’s lack of confidence in the Ministers concerned?

Might as well dispense of the Cabinet Ministers altogether and just rely on the Special Advisers!

These appointments are not the only “sinecure” appointments under Ismail Sabri – as there are not only “dud” GLC appointments, but also regional special envoys appointed when there are already ambassadors for each country, leading to the ridiculous situation where we have a Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to the Middle East who cannot visit Saudi Arabia!