Mahathir to meet all ministry sec-gens tomorrow

Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be meeting all ministry secretaries-general tomorrow to clarify the functions and roles of the new government.

The prime minister said the session would be used to explain what would be carried out by the new Pakatan Harapan-led government, especially in fighting corruption in administration.      

“Tomorrow, I will meet all ministry secretaries-general and explain to them what are our desires and what we will do especially in dealing with corruption,” he said in a special information session with RTM and Bernama at his residence in Seri Kembangan today.

He disclosed this when asked what would happen to the 1.6 million civil servants, as it was earlier reported ministries would be amalgamated in the new cabinet by the Harapan government.

Yesterday, Mahathir named Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin as home minister, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu as defence minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng as finance minister.

Commenting further on anti-corruption in government, Mahathir insisted that the government is very firm on the matter and does not want ministers appointed to be involved in corrupt practices.

The Harapan chairperson said since the election campaign, Harapan had received many contributions to fund its campaign, and now that it has elected by the people, all forms of contributions and donations would no longer be received from any parties except with the approval of or declaration to the cabinet.

"Sometimes, members of the public contribute in the form of gifts. They are in kind such as food and not in the form of valuable items,” he said. 

On the new cabinet, Mahathir said an announcement would be made soon.  

"We will form a small cabinet with 10 people. We already have three persons and we need seven more quickly with each party nominating the candidate name and ministry of choice.           -

"I hope it would be resolved this week so that we can form a cabinet of 10 people,” he said.

He said as the prime minister he would vet through the list of candidates before making a decision on their final post after conferring with the presidents of the four parties.    

He said the cabinet would function as a legitimate cabinet, while the government selects other candidates including from other states such as Sabah and Sarawak.

The complete cabinet would not have more than 30 ministries, he said.

- Bernama