May 15 – Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak unveiled his much expected cabinet today, which surprisingly included a P Waythamoothy of Hindraf as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.
MIC President G.Palanivel is the Minister for Natural resources and Environment while MIC’s Deputy President Dr Subramaniam is now the Health Minister.
M.Saravanan, as a Deputy Minister, has been moved from Federal Territory Ministry to Youth and Sports Ministry.
Hulu Selangor MP Kamalanathan has been named as the Deputy Education Minister.
PPP party’s Penang leader Loga Balamohan has been named as the Deputy Minister for Federal Territories Ministry.
MCA and Gerakan representatives not included
No one from MCA and Gerakan has been included in the new cabinet. However, Najib said that the door is still open to MCA participation if the party amends its decision not to participate in the cabinet.
Another surprise was the appointment of Transparency International Malaysia Chapter chairperson Paul Low as Minister in Prime Minister’s Department.
The Transport Ministry is understood to be the ministry allocated for MCA, which will be currently held by Hishammuddin Hussein. Hishamuddin is also the new Defence Minister taking over from Ahmad Zahid who has become the new Home Minister.
Another new face in the cabinet is Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who has been named local government and housing minister.
This cabinet also sees a merger between the education and higher education ministries.
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Prime Minister and Finance I: Najib Abdul Razak
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