Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof
KUCHING (Aug 27): Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof has been retained as one of four Senior Ministers as well as Works Minister in the new Cabinet lineup unveiled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today.
The new Cabinet comes without the appointment of a deputy prime minister, a post that was heavily debated prior to the announcement.
Also retaining their portfolios in the new Cabinet are Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri; Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi; Deputy Health Minister Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang; Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib; Deputy Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Ali Biju; and Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Willie Mongin.
Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has a new portfolio as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) after previously serving as Entrepreneur Development and Co-operatives Minister.
There has been a swapping of portfolios for Datuk Henry Sum Agong and Datuk Hasbi Habibollah, who are now Transport Deputy Minister and Rural Development Deputy Minister respectively.
In a special address prior to unveiling the new line-up, Ismail Sabri said the new Cabinet is a management team working with the people to lift Malaysia out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the Cabinet was formulated based on the current situation to achieve political stability and preserve the welfare and general well-being of Malaysian families.
“Our economy has deteriorated due to unstable politics. The World Health Organisation has said that we need to live with Covid-19, which is endemic.
“There are more variants of concern (VoC) which can be more aggressive and those infected can be infected again. We need to continue to monitor the risk and embrace the new normal,” he added.
Ismail Sabri pledged that the new Cabinet will be committed to implementing the national agenda of reviving the economy and improving the well-being of the people.
He said the country’s economy will be reopened in stages so that the people can continue to earn a living and help with the country’s economic revival.
“This Cabinet must be result-oriented based on three principles namely meeting the current needs, being responsible, and regaining the people’s confidence,” he said.
The prime minister said all the ministries must come up with short-term and long-term objectives to achieve their set targets.
He added that every ministry must show their respective report cards on what they have achieved in the first 100 days.
“The reality is that we still need to face challenges, and I believe that no problem cannot be solved because the Almighty won’t give us greater challenges than what we can handle,” he said.
Ismail Sabri said his Cabinet members cannot work alone and will need all the support they can get.
“I have only one message to all the Cabinet members, which is, discharge your duties with full responsibility and integrity. Let’s work together to bring back the glory that Malaysia had,” he added.
The swearing in ceremony for the new Cabinet is scheduled for 2.30pm on Monday at Istana Negera in Kuala Lumpur.