Malaysia’s new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (Photo: Reuters)Hanoi (VNA) –Malaysia’s new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on May 11 announced 10 coreministries of the new government, the first move of Mahathir and his PakatanHarapan (Alliance of Hope) to set up the cabinet after their victory in thegeneral elections two days ago.
The announced ministries are finance, foreignaffairs, defence, home affairs, education, rural development, public works,transport, economy, and multimedia and science.
Speaking at a press conference, Mahathir said:“We do not want to have a huge cabinet, there are certain ministries which needto be filled immediately,” adding that he will give time to the componentparties to discuss which ministry they want to lead.
Ministers in the cabinet are expected to beunveiled on May 12. The previous government under defeated Prime Minister NajibRazak had more than 25 ministers.
Earlier, Mahathir disclosed that he plans toappoint Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, President of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (People’sJustice Party), as Deputy Prime Minister, making her the first female DeputyPrime Minister of the country.
Mahathir Mohamad, 92, was officially sworn in asPrime Minister of Malaysia on May 10, becoming the oldest government leader inthe world.
According to the official results announced bythe Election Committee of Malaysia, the Pakatan Harapan of Mahathir won the14th general election by obtaining 113 of the 222 seats in the parliament’slower house.
With this result, the Pakatan Harapan iseligible to form a new government. The result also shows that Mahathir Mohamad,who served as Malaysian Prime Minister from 1981 to 2003, is still supported bya large number of Malaysian people.-VNA
VNA
