PUTRAJAYA, Dec 12: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that additional ministers will be appointed to the Federal Cabinet, with an announcement expected to take place at 11am today.
In a Malay Mail news report today, Anwar said there will be ‘some’ more ministers as he will be delegating some of the tasks he had taken on personally after taking office last November.
“At 11am today. There will be some additional, but it will not be larger than before because I’m transferring some of my tasks,” he told reporters after attending the Finance Ministry assembly in Putrajaya, as quoted by Malay Mail.
According to Malay Mail, Chinese daily Sin Chew Daily yesterday cited unnamed sources saying Anwar is expected to replace Dr Zaliha Mustafa and V. Sivakumar, the ministers of Health and Human Resources, respectively, with the replacements being newcomers to his administration.
Damansara MP Gobind Singh Deo from the Democratic Action Party (DAP) is among those speculated to replace Sivakumar. At the same time, Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali, currently the acting Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, is expected to be permanently appointed, with the alternative candidate being the incumbent Deputy Local Government Development Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir.
Incumbent Titiwangsa MP Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani and Kuala Selangor MP Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad are also set to be appointed ministers in the Cabinet reshuffle.
Other speculated changes include a portfolio swap between Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir; the Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change Ministry might be separated into two; and the Federal Territories Ministry, which Anwar dissolved after taking office last year, could be revived.
The reshuffle takes place a year after the unity government came into power. — DayakDaily
