A senior minister has placed his resignation in the hands of the Prime Minister, yet he keeps the work for now, tying the moment of his departure to a former leader's return home to serve a sentence under house arrest. In the wider arc of a nation's politics, such a pause reveals how power is often handed over not in a single stroke but in measured steps, governed by timing that rests with one person. Alongside this uncertainty, the ministry continues its quieter labour of reform, promising that ship refuelling approvals will shrink from months to weeks by February next year.
Loke's Cabinet Resignation Takes Effect Only When Najib Begins House Arrest
Resigned, but still in the job until Najib goes home
Mark
So he has resigned, but he hasn't left. How does that work?
Mimi
He handed Anwar the letter on Monday. Anwar asked him to keep working for now, and Loke says the timing is the Prime Minister's call.
Mark
What's the trigger he named?
Mimi
Najib returning home to begin house arrest, after the conditional pardon on Sept 18. That hasn't happened yet.
Luke
Worth being clear about what we actually know. The trigger is Loke's account of what he told Anwar. Anwar's own position isn't in this reporting.
Mark
Fair. And the reasons for resigning?
Luke
The report doesn't state them. The link to Najib's pardon is implied by the timing, but Loke doesn't spell out a motive here.
Mimi
What he does say is that no replacement is planned and ministry programmes continue as scheduled.
Mark
And the bunkering announcement?
Mimi
A single-window system, targeted for February, to bring approvals down from six or seven months to weeks. Agencies keep their jurisdiction.
Luke
That's a target and a hope, in his words, not a delivered result. We'll see in February.
Il Polso
- A minister's resignation letter sits on the Prime Minister's desk, but its effect is suspended until a former premier comes home.
- The house arrest of Najib Razak has not begun, leaving the timing of Loke's exit hanging in the air despite his pardon on Sept 18.
- Anwar holds the final say on when the resignation takes effect and whether a replacement will be named.
- Meanwhile the Transport Ministry presses ahead with a single-window bunkering system aimed at cutting approvals to weeks by February.
A senior minister has placed his resignation in the hands of the Prime Minister, yet he keeps the work for now, tying the moment of his departure to a former leader's return home to serve a sentence under house arrest. In the wider arc of a nation's politics, such a pause reveals how power is often handed over not in a single stroke but in measured steps, governed by timing that rests with one person. Alongside this uncertainty, the ministry continues its quieter labour of reform, promising that ship refuelling approvals will shrink from months to weeks by February next year.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke has handed his resignation from the Cabinet to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, but he has not yet left the job. Delivering the letter by hand on Monday, he spoke with Anwar afterwards, and the Prime Minister asked him to carry on for the time being. Loke says the resignation should take effect only when former prime minister Najib Razak returns home to serve his house arrest, a marker that has not yet arrived. Najib was granted a conditional pardon on September 18, but the house arrest has not begun.
Speaking after the launch of Malaysia Maritime Week 2026, Loke said no replacement is planned and that his ministry's programmes will continue as scheduled. The same event brought news of a new single-window system for ship bunkering applications, which he says will cut approval times from six or seven months to a matter of weeks, with a February target next year. The system will merge the separate agency processes into one application while each agency keeps its jurisdiction.
Loke framed the reform as a competitive necessity, pointing to the thousands of ships passing through the Straits of Malacca each year. For now, the open questions are when Anwar decides the resignation takes effect and whether a successor is named.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke has handed in his resignation from the Cabinet, but he is still in the job. He says the resignation will take effect only when former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak returns home to serve his sentence under house arrest, and that has not yet happened.
Loke said he delivered the letter by hand to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Monday. He stressed that it went directly to the Prime Minister and that the two of them talked afterwards. In that conversation, Anwar asked him to carry on with his duties for the time being. When the resignation actually takes effect, Loke said, is for the Prime Minister to decide.
He spoke to reporters after launching Malaysia Maritime Week 2026. According to Loke, he told Anwar there should be a timeframe for his continued tenure. The marker he proposed was Najib's return home. Najib was granted a conditional pardon on Sept 18, but the house arrest has yet to begin.
For now, Loke said, he is still serving as minister, and no replacement is planned. He added that the ministry's existing programmes will continue as scheduled.
The same press event produced an announcement on his ministry's work. Loke said a new single-window system will cut the time needed to approve ship bunkering applications from six months to a matter of weeks, with the target being February next year.
Under the current arrangement, he explained, bunkering applications are handled by different agencies separately. The new system will fold them into one application process, while each agency keeps its own jurisdiction. Previously, he said, an application took at least six to seven months to be approved, and the hope is to bring that down to weeks.
The initiative will be carried out under the Transport Ministry on a Cabinet mandate, with cooperation from various departments and agencies. Loke said Malaysia needs to make its bunkering sector more competitive because of the heavy shipping traffic through the Straits of Malacca. Thousands of ships pass through each year, he said, calling it a real economic opportunity.
Two things are left to watch: when Anwar decides the resignation takes effect, and whether a replacement is named. The bunkering system's February target is the other date on the calendar.
Citazioni salienti
Anwar asked him to continue his duties for the time being, and the timing of the resignation taking effect will be decided by the Prime Minister.— Anthony Loke, Transport Minister
Thousands of ships pass through every year. So, this is a real opportunity, a real economic opportunity.— Anthony Loke, on the bunkering sector
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Politics & Governance