Selangor MPs likely to lead list with eight ministers
PETALING JAYA: Selangor MPs lead the pack in the Cabinet with six of them already being made ministers in Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration.
If the leaked Cabinet list is true, there will be a total of eight ministers who are MPs from the state.
The current ministers from Selangor are Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Mohamad Sabu, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Zuraida Kamaruddin, Gobind Singh Deo and Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
The additional two are Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad and Kuala Langat MP Dr Xavier Jayakumar, who are purportedly named Federal Territories Minister and Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister respectively.
Trailing behind Selangor is Johor with five ministers, according to the list.
There are already three MPs from the southern state in the lineup – Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik and Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Salahuddin Ayub.
The list suggests that Bakri MP Yeo Bee Yin will be appointed Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment Minister, while Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman will be Youth and Sports Minister.
Should it be accurate, the Muar factor is strong among these Johor lawmakers.
Muhyiddin was born in Muar
and Syed Saddiq is Muar MP.
Bakri – where Yeo serves as MP – is a town under the Muar district, while Salahuddin is also the assem-
blyman of Simpang Jeram, which is a state seat under the Bakri parliamentary seat.
There is also a higher number of representation of women ministers, 18.5% if the list is accurate, compared to 8.6% in the previous administration.
At present, there are already three women ministers, namely Deputy Prime Minister and Women, Family and Community Development Minister Dr Wan Azizah, Rural Development Minister Rina Mohd Harun, and Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin.
The previous Cabinet also had three women ministers.
If the list is accurate, there will be two more women ministers – Yeo and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok – with the latter slated to take on the Primary Industries portfolio.
Meanwhile, Syed Saddiq, 26, may create history as the youngest minister in Malaysia if he is appointed Youth and Sports Minister, as stated in the list.
Khairy Jamaluddin, who previously held the portfolio, was the youngest when he was appointed minister in 2013 at the age of 37.
The list also appears to suggest a total of 24 deputy ministers with a 16.7% women representation, which is slightly lower than the 18.8% in the previous administration.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that a few of the ministers-designate have visited their respective ministries to find out more details.