Malaysia PM keeps faith with old guard in new cabinet

Malaysia PM keeps faith with old guard in new cabinet

Reuters
Kuala Lumpur

Fresh from a landslide election victory that owed much to a
strong antigraft platform, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi kept faith with the old guard when he named a new
cabinet on Saturday.

The retirement of five ministers who had served under his
predecessor, veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad, and the resignation
of another allowed Abdullah to bring in some young blood.

He also created several new portfolios.

"This is to give some new faces a chance. Those who were not
included, (it) doesn't mean that they were implicated in crime or
corruption," Abdullah told a news conference.

Otherwise there was a strong sense of continuity from a prime
minister who had appeared bent on differentiating his
administration from Mahathir's since taking over in October.

Abdullah, whose "Mr Clean" image was a key factor in beating
the Islamist opposition last Sunday, kept the finance portfolio
for himself.

But to lighten his load, Abdullah broke up the Home Ministry,
creating a new Internal Security Ministry, which he will control.
New Home Affairs Minister Azmi Khalid is one of the younger
generation the prime minister is keen to promote.

Abdullah retained Nor Mohamed Yakcop, an ex-central banker who
had been Mahathir's economic adviser, as Second Finance Minister,
and brought in Mustapa Mohamed, an economist with prior
experience at the Finance Ministry, as a minister in the Prime
Minister's Department.

Najib Razak, who Abdullah promoted as deputy prime minister in
January, kept the number two spot and the defense minister
position.

Syed Hamid Albar, foreign minister since 1999, held on to his
job despite being associated in the international community with
some of Mahathir's more controversial positions, notably over
relations between the West and the Islamic world.

Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz, ever present in Mahathir cabinets
and longest serving minister in World Trade Organization (WTO)
negotiations, also kept her post.

The other rising star is Najib's cousin, Hishammuddin Hussein,
who was promoted from the sports ministry to education minister.

There were few casualties.

After Abdullah read the list, the first question in the news
conference which followed was whether the cabinet was clean.

"Yes. There's no case for them not to be appointed," Abdullah
responded. He added: "Being a minister doesn't give them immunity
from the due process of the law."

The line-up drew a scathing assessment from the opposition
leader, whose secular party won the most parliamentary seats
among the opposition parties in Sunday's polls.

"If integrity and the perception of integrity are among the
indispensable criteria for the selection of cabinet ministers,
then the first Abdullah cabinet has failed the acid test," said
Lim Kit Siang, a veteran leader of the Democratic Action Party.