Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim unveiled his much-anticipated cabinet reshuffle earlier today.
- Cabinet expands to 60 – ministers increased from 28 to 31, deputy ministers from 27 to 29
- Five new ministers, two dropped
- Six portfolio changes
- Two ministerial portfolios split
- Federal Territories Ministry revived
- Technocrat, EPF CEO appointed Finance Minister II
The reshuffle saw several lawmakers booted out, while others shifted to new portfolios.
In addition, there were also comebacks and some new faces introduced to the lineup.
Anwar’s original Cabinet, which had 28 ministers, has now been expanded to 31.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was prime minister for 17 months from March 2020, had appointed 32 ministers and 38 deputies.
Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who took over the reins in August 2021, had a Cabinet of 31 ministers with 38 deputies.
Technocrat and Employees Provident Fund (EPF) CEO Amir Hamzah Azizan was appointed as Finance Minister II.
Amir is also the eldest son of the former Petronas chairman and president Tun Azizan Zainul Abidin. He was also previously the Tenaga Nasional Berhad chief executive from 2019 to 2021.
The reshuffle also marked the comeback of several former Cabinet ministers from the previous Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan governments.
The Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry was split into two – the Energy Transition and Public Utilities Ministry, and the Natural Resources and Sustainability Ministry.
Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof who held the Plantation and Commodities Ministry previously will now handle the Energy Transition and Public Utilities Ministry. His deputy will be Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir, formerly the Local Government Development Minister.
Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad will helm the Natural Resources and Sustainability Ministry portfolio and his deputy will be Huang Tiong Sii.
Nik was the former Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister, while Huang was his former deputy.
Another ministerial portfolio that was split into two was the Communications and Digital Ministry.
Gobind Singh Deo, who was the former Communications and Multimedia Minister in Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan Harapan cabinet, will be the new Digital Minister.
His deputy is Ugak Kumbong, who was formerly a deputy minister at the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak affairs, and special functions).
Fahmi Fadzil will be made Communications Minister and his deputy is Teo Nie Ching.
The former Communications and Digital Ministry was helmed by Fahmi and his deputy was Teo.
Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa has been moved to the now-revived Federal Territories Ministry. Former health minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad replaces her.
The Amanah lawmaker thanked Anwar for the opportunity and said he is ready to “bounce back” after a hiatus.
Former finance minister II Johari Abdul Ghani will helm the Plantations and Commodities ministry.
Meanwhile, Armizan Mohd Ali who was the acting Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister after the demise of the former minister Salahuddin Ayub, will continue to helm the ministry.
Mohamad Hasan has been moved from the Defence Ministry to the Foreign Ministry while Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir will move to the Higher Education Ministry.
In a three-way swap, Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin will helm the defence portfolio.
Some of the biggest changes in the Cabinet involve the DAP.
Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar appears to be the biggest loser in the reshuffle, becoming the only minister to be dropped. He will be replaced by Steven Sim, who was the recent Deputy Finance Minister II.
Sim, the Bukit Mertajam MP, is also the youngest minister in the Cabinet.
Sim’s previous post is now held by Lim Hui Ying, the sister of DAP chairman and former finance minister Lim Guan Eng.
She was previously the deputy education minister. Lim thanked the prime minister and vowed to do her “level best” in her new role.
Two deputy ministers were dropped from the lineup, the most prominent being Ramkarpal Singh, who was deputy law and institutional reform minister.
The Bukit Gelugor MP was replaced by Ipoh Barat MP M Kula Segaran, a former human resources minister in the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
Three Sabah deputy ministers have had their portfolios shuffled while another was dropped from the new federal Cabinet line-up.
The Cabinet reshuffle also saw the Sabah and Sarawak Affairs Ministry under the Prime Minister’s department scrapped.
Papar MP Armizan Ali was the minister in charge of Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and special functions, and is now the new Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister.
The three deputy ministers whose portfolios were shuffled are Chan Foong Hin (Plantation and Commodities) who replaced Siti Aminah Aching, Mustapha Sakmud (Higher Education), and Arthur Kurup (Agriculture and Food Security).
While Siti Aminah is out, Wanita Umno chief Noraini Ahmad is back with a government post, albeit as a deputy minister. The former higher education minister is now deputy women, family and community development minister.
Another noteworthy appointment is PKR’s R Ramanan, who was named deputy entrepreneur and cooperatives development minister.
Ramanan, who is serving his first term as Sungai Buloh MP, is also the chairman of the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit or Mitra.
Meanwhile, former Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Wong Kah Woh have been named as the new Deputy Education Minister, while the former deputy works minister Abdul Rahman Mohammad will be the new Deputy Human Resources Minister.
Ahmad Maslan will be the new Deputy Works Minister and Zulkifli Hasan will be a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (religious affairs).
Anwar said there won’t be any more reshuffle if the ministers’ and deputy ministers’ performance are satisfactory.
“If there are no new pressures or issues, like digital, I don’t think there should be any changes for us to have a plan for the next four years until (the next) general election.”
The Tambun MP said the 20 percent pay cut for cabinet ministers will still be in place.
“Except for the prime minister, there is no pay cut. Because there is no salary (for the prime minister),” Anwar joked.
After he was sworn in as prime minister on Nov 24, 2022, Anwar said he would not be drawing a salary including as the finance minister.
The cabinet members subsequently said they would take a 20 percent pay cut until the country’s economy improved.
Full list of Cabinet ministers and deputy ministers in the unity government following the Cabinet reshuffle today:
Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Anwar Ibrahim
Minister of Finance II
Amir Hamzah Azizan (new)
Deputy Minister of Finance
Lim Hui Ying (formerly Deputy Education Minister)
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Rural and Regional Development
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development
Rubiah Wang
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Transition and Public Utilities (a new ministry — split from the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change)
Fadillah Yusof (also in charge of Sabah, Sarawak Affairs)
Deputy Minister of Energy Transition and Public Utilities
Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir
Minister of Transport
Anthony Loke Siew Fook
Deputy Minister of Transport
Hasbi Habibollah
Minister of Agriculture and Food Securities
Mohamad Sabu
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Securities
Arthur Joseph Kurup (formerly Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation)
Minister of Economy
Rafizi Ramli
Deputy Minister of Economy
Hanifah Hajar Taib
Minister of Local Government Development
Nga Kor Ming
Deputy Minister of Local Government Development
Aiman Athirah Sabu (formerly Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mohamad Hasan (formerly Minister of Defence)
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mohamad Alamin
Minister of Works
Alexander Nanta Linggi
Deputy Minister of Works
Ahmad Maslan (formerly Deputy Minister of Finance)
Minister of Home Affairs
Saifuddin Nasution Ismail
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs
Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah
Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry
Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz
Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry
Liew Chin Tong
Minister of Defence
Mohamed Khaled Nordin (formerly Minister of Higher Education)
Deputy Minister of Defence
Adly Zahari
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation
Chang Lih Kang
Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation
Mohammad Yusof Apdal (formerly Deputy Higher Education Minister)
Minister of Women, Family and Community Development
Nancy Shukri
Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development
Noraini Ahmad (new)
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform)
Azalina Othman Said
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform)
M Kulasegaran (new)
Minister of Natural Resources and Sustainability (a new ministry — split from NRECC)
Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Sustainability
Huang Tiong Sii
Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives
Ewon Benedick
Deputy Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives
R Ramanan (new)
Minister of Higher Education
Zambry Abd Kadir (formerly Minister of Foreign Affairs)
Deputy Minister of Higher Education
Mustapha @ Mohd Yunus Sakmud (formerly Deputy Minister of Human Resources)
Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture
Tiong King Sing
Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture
Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan
Minister of Communications (a new ministry — split from Ministry of Communications and Digital)
Fahmi Fadzil
Deputy Minister of Communications
Teo Nie Ching
Minister of Education
Fadhlina Sidek
Deputy Minister of Education
Wong Kah Woh (new)
Minister of Unity
Aaron Ago Anak Dagang
Deputy Minister of Unity
Saraswathy Kandasami (formerly Deputy Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives)
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs)
Mohd Na’im Mokhtar
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs)
Zulkifli Hassan (new)
Minister of Youth and Sports
Hannah Yeoh
Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports
Adam Adli Abd Halim
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories)
Dr Zaliha Mustafa (formerly Minister of Health)
Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living
Armizan Mohd Ali (formerly Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions)
Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living
Fuziah Salleh
Minister of Plantation and Commodities
Johari Abdul Ghani (new)
Deputy Minister of Plantation and Commodities
Chan Foon Hin (formerly Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Securities)
Minister of Health
Dzulkefly Ahmad (new)
Deputy Minister of Health
Lukanisman Awang Sauni
Minister of Digital (a new ministry — split from Ministry of Communications and Digital)
Gobind Singh Deo
Deputy Minister of Digital
Ugak Anak Kumbong (formerly Deputy Minister of Special Functions and Sabah, Sarawak Affairs)
Minister of Human Resources
Steven Sim Chee Keong (new)
Deputy Minister of Human Resources
Abdul Rahman Mohamad (formerly Deputy Minister of Works)