After an outstanding corporate career which saw him rise to become boss of Malaysia Airlines and turning its balance sheet from red to black, Idris was handpicked recently to tackle the government’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
His job as minister is also to help design the roadmap to transform the civil service from a bloated, lumbering, inefficient and corrupt organisation into a dynamic, clean and efficient body.
In handling his new responsibilities, Idris would rather be the professional left alone to do his job.
But in the murky, bitter world of Malaysian politics, Idris has the somewhat enviable image of being clean, capable and respected on both sides of the political divide.
And Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who handpicked him as minister despite objections from within his own Umno party, knows Idris can be a political trump card.
Nothing in the federal constitution says a minister must be a politician.
Idris was appointed a minister recently.
Idris was appointed a minister recently.
But Idris is aware that Najib sees him as a secret weapon. His prominence and popularity with the public could well help Najib’s Barisan Nasional (BN) retain the votes in the crucial state of Sarawak, where Idris comes from, and even in Sabah.
His humble background with his roots in the Bario hinterland will be a perfect counterfoil to Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud’s waning popularity and excesses.
The Malaysian Insider understands that Idris is still mulling over which party he would join if he does decide to become a politician.
But even if he decides not to become a politician, Idris will still remain a powerful weapon for Najib to wield.
Since becoming the prime minister in April, Najib has been reaching out directly to Malaysia’s different communities, bypassing the traditional path of BN partners, many of them with leaders who are tainted.
In the MIC, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has been ignored by Najib as the PM reached out directly through his own campaigns with the Indian community.
MCA, under its president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, is also finding itself irrelevant to the Chinese community.
With Idris, Najib sees an opportunity to neutralise the potential temptation of Sarawakians to vote for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties in the next general election.
With the peninsula vote looking to be still slightly in favour of PR parties, BN will have to depend on Sabah and Sarawak, as it did last year, to stay in power.
But Najib is still facing some push back from his own party warlords, who are unhappy that the Umno president would tap outsiders for Cabinet jobs, which they see as the property of politicians.
Still, the prime minister knows his administration also needs to perform to win the next election.
Analysts say Najib will have to cull his overweight Cabinet and push the ministers to show results before the next general election, either in 2012 or early 2013, or risk a greater loss than Election 2008 where it lost four states and its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority.
comments
Reform can only be successful in Malaysia if there is change in government. The warlords in civil service need to be booted out. If no infusion of top management personnel into the civil service, it will remain a service of single race with the abang-adik attitude. Idris Jala cann't do much because of the deep-rooted political web in the civil service itself.
Which Chief Secretary to the government has not been talking about change ? What is the effect today ?
I don't think Idris will ever be successful in implementing KPIs in BN,s Government anyway since he was unsuccessful in doing so in MAS. Nowadays most MAS staff are unhappy with the management due to KPIs setback. By the time he is trying to make it work, PR has already taken over the Government.
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