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19th March, 2008
PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday announced his new Cabinet line-up, dropping eight ministers who won the recent general election and appointing two corporate figures as ministers.
He said half of the members of his administration were new faces.
The new administration line-up, he said, was drawn up based on the “spirit of power-sharing and camaraderie of the Barisan Nasional (BN)”, and it was capable of implementing the government agenda more effectively.
Abdullah, who retained the finance portfolio, named Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister.
Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, who won the Tasek Gelugor parliamentary seat in Penang, was retained as the Second Finance Minister.
The two corporate figures, who were sworn in as senators later yesterday, were prominent lawyer Datuk Zaid Ibrahim and Maybank Chief Executive Officer Datuk Amirsham A. Aziz, both of whom will be ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department.
Zaid, a former Member of Parliament for Kota Baharu, has been entrusted with the responsibility of restoring the people’s confidence in the judicial system while Amirsham will head the Economic Planning Unit (EPU).
Three others, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz and Datuk Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, were also appointed ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department.
The ministers dropped were Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz (who was Minister of International Trade and Industry); Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad (Home Affairs); Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid (Natural Resources and Environment); Datuk Seri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis (Science, Technology and Innovation), Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor (Tourism) and Datuk Abdullah Md Zin (Prime Minister’s Department).
The two others are MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting (Housing and Local Government), who asked not to be reappointed so as to concentrate on rebuilding the MCA following its dismal performance in the general election, and Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn (Human Resources).
The number of members in Abdullah’s administration had been reduced from 90 to 69 and he also removed the post of parliamentary secretary.
The prime minister said that with the scrapping of the post of parliamentary secretary, the ministers and deputy ministers were required to work harder.
Umno Information Chief Senator Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib, who resigned as Selangor Menteri Besar 11 years ago, has been appointed a minister. He takes charge of the Rural and Regional Development portfolio.
Datuk Shahrir Samad, who was Federal Territory Minister in 1987, has been brought back to the Cabinet, this time as Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister.
Among the newly appointed ministers are Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek (Information),
Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor (Energy, Water and Communications), Datuk Liow Tiong Lai (Health), Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam (Human Resources), Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas (Natural Resources and Environment), Datuk Ong Tee Keat (Transport), Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen (Women, Family and Community Development), Datuk Noh Omar (Enterpreneur and Cooperatives Development), Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed (Works) and Datuk Ong Ka Chuan (Housing and Local Government).
Bera Member of Parliament Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob, 48, is a new face who has been appointed a full minister, holding the Youth and Sports portfolio.
Abdullah also said that the Home Affairs Ministry and the Internal Security Ministry had been merged and the resultant Home Ministry is headed by Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, the former Foreign Minister.
The National Unity and Integration Department in the Prime Minister’s Department has been absorbed into the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry and the new Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry is helmed by Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal, who is the former Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister.
Abdullah said he had incorporated many changes to the administration line-up to enable the government machinery to implement its responsibilities more effectively.
Several others also had their portfolios changed, besides Syed Hamid and Shafie. Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin is now International Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim, Foreign Minister; Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin, Higher Education Minister; Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister; Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister and Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, Tourism.
Those retained in their previous portfolios are Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein (Education), Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui (Plantation Industries and Commodities), Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique (Federal Territories).
Abdullah also announced the list of 37 deputy ministers. Among the new faces are Puteri Umno chief Datuk Noraini Ahmad (Human Resources); Datuk Seri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib (Tourism); S.K. Devamany and Datuk Hassan Malek (both in the Prime Minister’s Department); Datuk M. Saravanan (Federal Territories); Tan Sri Joseph Kurup (Rural and Regional Development); Datuk Seri Panglima Abdul Ghapur Salleh (Natural Resources and Environment) and Noriah Kasnon (Women, Family and Community Development).
Those retained as deputy ministers are Datuk Johari Baharum (now in the Prime Minister’s Department); Datuk Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah (Finance) and Datuk Dr Latif Ahmad (Health).
Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim has been made a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department where she was a parliamentary secretary. She will be appointed a senator.
The Prime Minister kept his word on not reappointing any member of his previous administration who had lost in the general election.
For the Sabah and Sarawak composition, the prime minister retained the number of ministers from the two states but increased the number of deputy ministers.
For Sabah, the posts of three ministers were retained and the number of deputy ministers raised from two to four while in Sarawak, the posts of two ministers were retained and the number of deputy ministers increased from four to seven.
The ministers from Sabah are Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili, Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal and Tan Sri Bernard Dompok while the four deputy ministers are Datuk VK Liew, Datuk Anifah Aman, Tan Sri Joseph Kurup and Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh. – Bernama
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