New federal government sets up 10 ministries — Dr Mahathir
KUALA LUMPUR: The new Pakatan Harapan federal government has set up 10 ministries that ‘need to be filled immediately’, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday.
He also said the government wanted to create a small cabinet first.
“We do not want to have a huge cabinet, but there are certain ministries that need to be filled immediately,” he said at a press conference also attended by leaders of the Pakatan Harapan component parties, namely PBBM, PKR, DAP and Amanah.
Dr Mahathir named the portfolios of the 10 ministries as Finance, Home Affairs, Defence, Education, Rural Development, Economy, Public Works, Transport, Multimedia, Science and Technology, and Foreign Affairs.
He said the Pakatan Harapan presidential council had its first meeting yesterday following the general election. The meeting, he said, was to lay down certain policies, such as those stated in the coalition’s election manifesto.
Dr Mahathir, who was sworn as the seventh prime minister Thursday night, said the names of the 10 ministers would be announced today.
He said that following yesterday’s meeting of the presidential council, each of the component parties would hold their respective meetings to decide which ministry they would want to be in and who their candidates for ministers were.
“This doesn’t mean that all their proposals will be accepted because tomorrow we will have a full meeting of the presidential council. At the presidential council meeting, we will finalise the names and the ministries that we will have to fill.
“This doesn’t mean that we are not a united party. We are one party but it is important that all parties be represented in our Cabinet,” he said.
So far, he said, the only position filled was by him as the Prime Minister and PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who would be appointed the Deputy Prime Minister.
Dr Mahathir stressed that the four parties in the coalition would have an equal role without any discrimination.
When asked whether he would hold a double portfolio, the Pakatan Harapan chairman said that it would be decided today.
In response to a question on whether he would be clocking in at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya on Monday morning, he replied: “That is a minor thing, I function just as well here.”
The press conference was held at Yayasan Al- Bukhary here. — Bernama