Najib’s new cabinet (Updated 6.55pm)

Updated 6.55pm on 9 April 2009

Najib announces new cabinet line-up today (Pic courtesy of theSun)

PUTRAJAYA, 9 April 2009: Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Najib Razak unveiled his new cabinet today, which he said was a leaner, more dynamic team to help him achieve his concept of “One Malaysia. People First. Performance now.“.

The cabinet now comprises 28 ministers in 25 ministries and 40 deputy ministers, compared with the cabinet under Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s administration, which had 31 ministers in 27 ministries.

As expected, Najib retained the powerful Finance Ministry portfolio, while Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was made the deputy prime minister.

Muhyiddin, the former international trade and industry minister, was also made education minister.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin was conspicuously left out of the cabinet, while his contender for the Youth chief post, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, was made deputy international trade and industry minister. Khairy’s deputy in Umno Youth, Datuk Razali Ibrahim, was also appointed a deputy minister, in the youth and sports ministry.

KPI introduced

Najib, in a 3pm announcement at his office, said his cabinet would be in the forefront of serving the people and being responsive to their needs. He also emphasised the importance of leadership based on performance.

To this end, he introduced a key performance indicator (KPI) for the ministries, adding that he would be personally involved in assessing the performance of all his ministers every six months.

Najib said the duty of monitoring the ministries’ KPI would fall to Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, who was named minister in the prime minister’s department in charge of performance management and unity.

Three others were also named ministers in the PM’s department. They were Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (in charge of law and Parliament), Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop (Economic Planning Unit), and Mej-Jen (B) Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom (Islamic affairs).

Najib announcing the new line-up, flanked by Muhyiddin (left) and chief secretary to the government
Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan

Umno ministers

The three newly elected Umno vice-presidents were, as predicted, also given ministerships. Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was made the new defence minister; Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein home minister, and Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal rural and regional development minister.

Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, who won the most votes in the recent Umno polls for the supreme council, was made international trade and industry minister.

Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who recently won the post of Umno Wanita chief, reprised her position as women, family and community development minister. Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen, who held that portfolio under the previous administration, was made tourism minister instead.

Two ministries have been done away with and their responsibilities absorbed into other ministries.

Najib, who was flanked by Muhyiddin and chief secretary to the government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hasan, also announced the formation of a new ministry known as the energy, green technology and water ministry. The ministry is headed by Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui.

Dropped and retained

Those dropped from the cabinet were Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar (Home), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman (Tourism), Tan Sri Amirsham A Aziz (Minister in the PM’s Department), Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan (Housing and Local Government), Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib (Rural and Regional Development), Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed (Works), and Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique (Federal Territories).

Datuk Shahrir Samad, who was the domestic trade and consumer affairs minister, had earlier resigned from the cabinet after losing his supreme council position in the recent Umno polls.

Najib retained several ministers who had lost in the Umno elections, namely Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, who is now the information communication, arts and culture minister, and Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin, who keeps his post.

Datuk Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah, who was deputy finance minister in the previous cabinet, has been promoted to finance minister II. Others among the seven new faces in the cabinet include Datuk Anifah Aman, who is now the foreign minister, and Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin, who is federal territories minister.

Women representation

In terms of women representation, there is no change from before, with only two in the cabinet. But there’s been an increase in the number of women deputy ministers, which now stands at eight. It was five in the previous administration.

After announcing the new cabinet line-up, Najib pointedly refused to take questions from the waiting media, unlike his predecessors Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who held a press conference after announcing their cabinet.

Instead, Najib quickly left the room, leaving the media scrambling to get a hold of the list of ministers.

The new ministers and deputy ministers will take their oath of office at Istana Negara at 9.30am tomorrow.

PORTFOLIO	MINISTER / Deputy	PARTY
Prime Minister	Datuk Seri Najib Razak	Umno
Deputy Prime Minister	Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin	Umno
Finance Minister	Datuk Seri Najib Razak
Finance Minister II	Datuk Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah	Umno
	Datuk Chor Chee Heung Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin
Prime Minister’s Dept	Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu  Koon (Unity and Performance Management)	Gerakan
	Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (Legal and Parliamentary Affairs)	Umno
	Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop (Economic Planning Unit)	Umno
	Mej-Jen (B) Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom (Islamic Religious Affairs)
	Datuk Liew Vui Keong Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim Datuk SK Devamany Ahmad Maslan T Murugiah
Education	Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
	Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi
Transport	Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat	MCA
	Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew
Science, Technology and Innovation	Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili	Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS)
	Fadillah Yusof
Defence	Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi	Umno
	Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad
Home	Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein	Umno
	Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop Jelaing anak Mersat
Rural and Regional Development	Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal	Umno
	Datuk Hassan Malek Datuk Joseph Entulu anak      Belaun
Housing and Local Government	Datuk Kong Cho Ha	MCA
	Datuk Lajim Ukin
Plantation, Industries and Commodities	Tan Sri Bernard Dompok	Upko
	Datuk Hamzah Zainudin
Health	Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai	MCA
	Datuk Rosnah Rashid Shirlin
Tourism	Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen	MCA
	Datuk Seri Sulaiman Abdul      Rahman Abdul Taib
Human Resources	Datuk Dr S Subramaniam	MIC
	Datuk Maznah Mazlan
Natural Resources and Environment	Datuk Douglas Unggah Embas	Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB)
	Tan Sri Joseph Kurup
International Trade and Industry	Datuk Mustapa Mohamed	Umno
	Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir Datuk Jacob Dungau Sagan
Women, Family and Community Development	Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil	Umno
	Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun
Higher Education	Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin	Umno
	Datuk Dr Hou Kok Chung Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah
Information Communication, Arts and Culture	Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim	Umno
	Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum Senator Heng Seai Kie
Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry	Datuk Noh Omar	Umno
	Datuk Johari Baharum Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim
Works	Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor	Umno
	Datuk Yong Khoon Seng
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs	Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob	Umno
	Datuk Tan Lian Hoe
Youth and Sports	Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek	Umno
	Datuk Razali Ibrahim Wee Jeck Seng
Foreign	Datuk Anifah Aman	Umno
	A Kohilan Pillay Datuk Lee Chee Leong
Federal Territories	Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin	Umno
	Datuk M Saravanan