Veteran journalist A Kadir Jasin has urged Pakatan Harapan lawmakers to respect the decision on the cabinet line-up as it was based on consensus.

The cornerstone of Harapan is consensus, he said, a process which began during the Citizens' Declaration petition to save Malaysia in March 2016.

"So whether the formation of the new cabinet, which was sworn-in at the Istana Negara two days ago, was slow or quick, it was the result of that consensus.

"That is what we need to understand and accept about Harapan. In Harapan, all member parties are equal. This is different from BN which was dominated by Umno.

"In whatever form of compromise, in politics, there will be those who are dissatisfied and do not agree. But a consensus which has been reached needs to be respected," Kadir said in a blog posting today.

The new cabinet ministers need to remember that their appointments were the product of Harapan's cooperation, he reminded, and their actions will be scrutinised by their fellow Harapan colleagues and the rakyat.

They represent a new, more egalitarian politics in Malaysia, where the voters and taxpayers are "kings", he added.

"There is no need for high seats, long-winded welcoming remarks and protocols which separate the elected representatives from the rakyat.

"Get rid of the feudalism and replace it with egalitarianism," Kadir said.

However, he cautioned, if the cabinet ministers choose to instead fight over positions and air their dirty laundry in public, they may end up becoming one-term ministers who are jailed after five years.

"Betray the rakyat's mandate and they will punish Harapan as they punished BN on May 9," he warned.

The latest line-up of cabinet ministers was sworn in on Monday.

The two biggest parties on the government bench, PKR and DAP, are under-represented in Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's cabinet.

Combined, PKR and DAP control 73.6 percent of the seats on the government bench but were allocated only 50 percent of the cabinet positions.

It was reported that discontent was expressed by certain quarters in DAP over the cabinet allocations.