PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is expected to announce his full lineup of cabinet ministers by this week or latest next week.
“It is supposed to be announced by this week.. but I think it will be next week,” he said, adding, the views of everyone in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition would be taken into consideration.
Asked on how many ministries would be formed, Dr Mahathir in jest replied: “It can be 26, 27, 28 or 500..please wait.”
He was speaking to reporters after chairing the weekly cabinet meeting here.
On May 11, Dr Mahathir said PH would have a small Cabinet line-up to start with, with 10 key ministerial positions to be filled first.
The 10 ministries are Finance, Home Affairs, Defence, Education, Rural Development, Economy and International Trade, Public Works, Multimedia, Science and Technology and Foreign Affairs.
On May 18, Dr Mahathir announced the names of the key ministers and the swearing-in ceremony was held on May 21.
The 14th Parliament Session’s first seating will begin on July 16.
On another matter, the Prime Minister also said the government would provide an allocation of RM500,000 for PH Members of Parliament and only RM100,000 for the opposition MPs.
The allocation is scheduled to be disbursed before Hari Raya Aidilfitri, he said . — Report by Report by Azura Abas, Manirajan Ramasamy, Irwan Shafrizan Ismail and Mohd Husni Mohd Noor