Mahathir: All the parties will get fair share in new Cabinet

PETALING JAYA: All Pakatan Harapan component parties will be fairly represented in the new Cabinet, and it will be based on the number of seats won by each party.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in a special televised announcement yesterday, gave an assurance that the composition of Cabinet will be based on the percentage of seats won by each component party.

Dr Mahathir said that a 10-person Cabinet would first be set up, with more ministries and the deputy ministers chosen at a later date.

The deputy ministers will all be from a different party from the minister.

“This will be the early set-up for the new government of Malaysia,” said Dr Mahathir.

However, he said that in his 10-person Cabinet, “we cannot distribute the number of seats according to the percentage of each party”.

“There are some parties that won more seats than others. But if the parties don’t have the correct proportion (in the 10-person Cabinet), the party will get more positions in Cabinet when we set up the full 25-person Cabinet,” he said.

Three ministerial positions have already been announced – Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the Home Minister, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng (Finance Minister) and Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu (Defence Minister).

PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has also been named as the Deputy Prime Minister.

Dr Mahathir said each component party will have their respective meetings to put forward their list of candidates for the ministerial positions they want.

The Prime Minister will be the person that ultimately decides who will get which Cabinet position, he said, adding that this will be done in consultation with the component party presidents to make the final decision.

“I hope we can release the full list of 10 Cabinet ministers by this week,” said Dr Mahathir, adding that the full candidate list will be announced “as quickly as possible”.

He said he will also open Cabinet positions to Pakatan Harapan parties in Sabah and Sarawak.

“The number of people in the Cabinet might increase. But our aim is to have not more than 30 members in Cabinet.

“The previous regime added too many Cabinet members until it reached 35. We must try our best not to reach such a big number,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said the Prime Minister will “guide the way” in making government decisions, and that the Cabinet will follow the “majority rules” principle.

“To allow decisions to be made, we use the ‘ majority rules’ principle, because we don’t always reach a consensus.

“With the ‘majority rules’, we can make decisions more efficiently and faster,” he said.