New Cabinet: Dr M to be Education Minister (updated)

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be in charge of the Education Ministry, while Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will be in charge of women’s affairs.

“We will try to get 13 ministers sworn in on Monday (May 21) if the Istana (Palace) agrees to it,” Dr Mahathir told a press conference following a Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting at Yayasan Selangor here on Thursday (May 17).

Dr Mahathir said he will take over the education portfolio because many people are uneducated, and that he needed to give his attention to it.

He said Malaysia's way of teaching is "outdated" and he hopes that more Malaysians will be more computer-savvy.

"We should devise new ways of teaching," said Dr Mahathir, adding that he will introduce an online software to teach students in schools.

He added that there will only be one ministry in charge of all matters regarding education.

He also said that the remaining eight core Cabinet positions would be divided equally between the parties in Pakatan Harapan - meaning two for each party.

“This doesn’t represent the strength of each party. Some will get more, some less. At this stage, we are not taking into account the strength of the parties, but we will do so when we appoint the other ministers so that we have a size of 25,” he said.

When asked why there was a delay in the naming of the Cabinet, Dr Mahathir said that there were four parties in the coalition and each had their demands.

He added that they had to make sure the candidates for each ministry were suitable.

"We will announce it probably tomorrow (Friday) if I can do things in time. If not, we may have to delay (the announcement)," he said.