KUALA LUMPUR: DAP lawmaker M. Kulasegaran is set to be sworn in as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) today.
The announcement was made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim earlier today on the new line-up for the unity government's cabinet.
The portfolio is currently helmed by another DAP lawmaker, Ramkarpal Singh. However, the latter's name was not mentioned in the announcement of other ministerial portfolios.
Aside from Ramkarpal's removal as deputy minister, the line-up also saw the removal of Siti Aminah Aching as the Deputy Plantation and Commodities Minister. Her name was also not mentioned in the announcement.
Aside from the removal of the two deputies, the cabinet reshuffle also witnessed the removal of a minister, as well as several ministers and deputy ministers changing portfolios.
For the ministerial position, the announcement saw the removal of V. Sivakumar as the Human Resources Minister. His position will be replaced by Steven Sim Chee Keong, who was the deputy finance minister II.
Sim's position will be helmed by former deputy education minister Lim Hui Ying, while his counterpart Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan will assume the post of Deputy Works Minister.
Meanwhile, former defence minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan wil be helming the Foreign Affairs Minister, while Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin will take over his portfolio.
At the same time, former foreign affairs minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Kadir will assume the Higher Education Minister role.
Simultaneously, the former minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs, and Special Functions) Datuk Armizan Ali has been appointed as the Domestic Trade and Costs of Living Minister.
The appointment solidifies Armizan's position at the helm of the ministry, a position he assumed following the passing of Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub in July.
Following this, Armizan's position would be under the purview of both deputy prime ministers, where Fadhillah would be in charge of Sabah and Sarawak Affairs and Zahid would oversee special functions matters, particularly the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma).
The new cabinet line-up also saw several ministerial portfolios divided into two and the introduction of the Federal Territories Ministry, which was previously dissolved to make way for a Federal Territories Department.
With this, former health minister Datuk Seri Zaliha Mustafa was appointed as the Federal Territories Minister under the Prime Minister's Department.
Meanwhile, among the new faces introduced by Anwar in the line-up as ministers are Gobind Singh Deo (Digital Ministry), Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad (Health Minister), Datuk Seri Johari Ghani ( Plantation and Commodities Minister) and Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan (Finance Minister II).
New faces for deputy ministers position, meanwhile, were Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad (Deputy Women, Family and Community Minister), Datuk Ramanan Ramakrishnan (Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister), Wong Kah Woh (Deputy Education Minister) and Dr Zulkifli Hassan (Deputy Religious Affairs Minister).
The overall cabinet line-up increased to 60 members from 55 previously.
This includes an increase in cabinet members from 28 to 31, as well as an increase in deputy ministers from 27 to 29.