PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today announced the names of three senior cabinet ministers as part of the new Federal government.
Lim Guan Eng has been appointed Finance Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is Home Affairs Minister while Mohamad Sabu is the Defence Minister.
"We made the decision that we will name three of the most senior minister apart from the deputy prime minister (Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail)," he told a press conference at Bersatu headquarters here today.
He said they are only naming the three most senior ministers first, with seven others in the 10-person cabinet yet to be announced. The full names are set to be announced by next week, he said.
He said he had requested from the four Pakatan Harapan component parties to submit three names for each portfolios and that he will make a decision on the matter soon.
"So final decision as to the ministers will be made by the PM. The PM will not only accept the three names but also make necessary consultation with the heads of the four parties.
“We want a small cabinet of 25. There may be a necessity also to include leaders from Sabah and Sarawak and other organisations,” he said.
"We have places (in the Cabinet) for Sabah and Sarawak and we need to find their stand first."
Apart from that, Dr Mahathir also announced that there will be a council of elders to advise that government on economic and financial matters.
The team will be headed by former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin and the members are former Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Zetty Akhtar Aziz, former president and CEO of Petronas Tan Sri Hassan Merican, billionaire Tan Sri Robert Kuok and prominent economist Dr Jomo Kwame Sundaram.
"The secretariat of this team will be led by economist Dr Muhammed Abdul Khalid. Head of Media and Communication team is National Journalism Laureate Datuk A Kadir Jasin," he said.
On Sabah, Dr Mahathir said Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal has indicated that the party fully supports the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
"So the numbers (of seats in Sabah) will increase in terms of the movement of parties."
When asked on the outcome of his meeting with Sarawak governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud and whether PH will gain control of the state, the prime minister said talks are still ongoing.
"We met a lot of people inside (Sarawak government) and we will view if it's beneficial for us or not and we will act accordingly."--Reporting by Manirajan Ramasamy, Mohd Nasaruddin Parzi, Arfa Yunus, Veena Babulal, Luqman Arif Abdul Karim