KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has submitted the names of 15 additional Cabinet members to the Malaysian King, a source told Malaysiakini news site on Friday (June 22).
The list was submitted on Wednesday, the source said.
"There will be a total of 28 ministers, two each from Sabah and Sarawak. Deputy ministers are also included, along with names for senators who might be appointed as well," he told Malaysiakini.
The number of deputy ministers and prospective senators were not specified, the report said.
A non-Member of Parliament in Malaysia's Lower House (Dewan Rakyat) can be appointed a member of the Cabinet once he or she is sworn in as a Senator in the Upper House (Dewan Negara).
Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran confirmed to Malaysiakini on Friday (June 22) that the names have been sent to the King.
"I'm not privy to it, but I know (the names have been submitted) because the PM did say this to us. It's just a matter of time, today, Monday, Tuesday (for the appointments) to take effect," he told the news site.
Together with PM Mahathir, the new Cabinet will be 29-strong.
This compares with the 35 members in the last Cabinet of the Najib Razak administration. Then-PM Najib was also finance minister, and then-deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was also home minister.
The previous Cabinet line-up also has 33 deputy ministers.
Tun Mahathir's Cabinet was sworn in on May 21, 13 days after the Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance won the general election.
There has since been a delay in announcing the additional ministers due to internal friction and jockeying for positions between the four members of PH.
The four parties are Anwar Ibrahim's multiracial Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP), Mahathir Mohamad's Malay nationalist Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, and Parti Amanah Negara, a moderate Islamic faction.
Quoting the same source, Malaysiakini said among those on the list for ministerial positions are PKR's Mr Saifuddin Abdullah, Amanah's Mr Khalid Samad and from the DAP, Ms Teresa Kok and Mr Ong Kian Ming.
