Anthony Loke's resignation delayed until Najib's house arrest begins

Malaysia Transport Minister Anthony Loke has agreed with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that his resignation, announced in protest of Najib Razak's conditional pardon, will take effect only when Najib begins house arrest. Analysts say the move limits Cabinet disruption and buys time for Anwar, but ris

Malaysia Transport Minister Anthony Loke's resignation in protest of former prime minister Najib Razak's conditional royal pardon took a fresh turn on Tuesday (Sep 29), with Loke saying he and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim have agreed it will take effect only when Najib begins his house arrest.

The move, analysts say, is calculated to limit disruption to the Cabinet and ensure continuity for key transport infrastructure projects. It also gives Anwar some breathing space while crowdfunding to raise Najib's court-imposed RM50 million fine by his United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party continues, they add.

Observers say Loke has little room to backtrack on his decision, which his Democratic Action Party (DAP) made in line with its anti-corruption stance, however. Failing to resign once Najib's house arrest conditions are met – even if Loke's offer is rejected by Anwar – would hurt the DAP's credibility, analysts noted.

Hisommudin Bakar, executive director of the research firm Ilham Centre, told CNA that Loke's initial announcement felt hasty. It may have stemmed from DAP being under pressure following a series of electoral defeats in the Sabah, Johor and Negeri Sembilan elections, most notably Loke's own defeat in the Chennah seat in Negeri Sembilan that he had held for three terms, he said. Loke's latest agreement with Anwar for the resignation to take effect when Najib begins house arrest, however, spares the PM from having to look for his replacement for now, Hisommudin said.

Transport experts said Loke's impending departure would not have much impact on near-term projects including the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link as well as the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) – a 665km megaproject connecting Selangor to the east coast states of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan. Both the RTS and ECRL are expected to begin commercial operations in January next year.

“These projects have been in the works for a long time, even before Anthony Loke's time as minister and, importantly, are near completion so a vacancy or new minister is unlikely to change the remaining trajectory of these projects,” said Timothy Wong, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore's Department of Economics. Nor Aziati Abdul Hamid, associate professor and senior researcher at the Universiti Tun Hussein Onn's Centre of Excellence for Rail Industry in Malaysia, agreed that projects already at the testing stage, such as the RTS and ECRL, are “fairly insulated” from changes in political leadership.

Projects still at the policy, approval or pre-construction stages would depend more on a minister to champion and push them forward, she said. Nor Aziati cited Johor's elevated Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) project that aims to tackle the state's congestion, especially in anticipation of a surge in passengers with the RTS Link. Wong of NUS said changes could be anticipated for transport initiatives with longer runways to completion, such as the Mutiara LRT Line in Penang, which he described as a “hallmark project for the DAP government in Penang”.