Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak announce his new cabinet line up at his office at Putrajaya.Malaysia's new premier Najib Razak unveiled a new-look cabinet Thursday, retaining his control on the finance portfolio and ejecting figures seen as loyal to his predecessor.
The number of cabinet ministers was cut to 28 from 32, and several ministries were amalgamated.
In a wide-ranging shake-up, former trade minister Muhyiddin Yassin who was elected deputy of the ruling party UMNO last week, was promoted to the key post of deputy prime minister and also given the education portfolio.
The trade ministry is now helmed by Mustapa Mohamed, a trained economist who served as agriculture minister in the last administration. His deputy is Mukhriz Mahathir, the son of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
The defence portfolio goes to Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, a close ally of Najib and one of the newly appointed vice-presidents of UMNO.
Foreign Minister Rais Yatin was shifted to the newly created ministry of information, communications, arts and culture, and replaced by Anifah Aman, a backbencher from Sabah state on Borneo island.
Several figures seen as loyal to former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who Najib took over from last week, were dropped including Rural Affairs Minister Muhammad Muhammad Taib and Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar.
The sensitive home affairs portfolio, which handles internal security, is now held by Hishammuddin Hussein, the former education minister who was also made one of UMNO's three vice-presidents last week.
There was a snub for Abdullah's son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin, who won the influential post of UMNO youth chief last week. Traditionally the youth chief sits in the cabinet, but he was omitted from Najib's new line-up.
Agence France-Presse - 4/9/2009 8:10 AM GMT
No comments:
Post a Comment