Ku Li suggests halving new ministers' salaries

PETALING JAYA: The salaries of all newly-appointed ministers should be halved, says Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, while sharing his opinion of the new Cabinet line-up.

The Gua Musang MP, who is popularly as Ku Li, was the sole Umno MP who did not sign a statutory declaration in support of Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as prime minister.

"Many have asked about my reaction towards the recently announced Cabinet... Umno is disappointed with this.

"Let's pray for their salaries to be half of what they earned under Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (during his tenure as prime minister)," he said in a brief statement.

Ismail Sabri retained four senior ministers in the same portfolio as the previous government.

Among the changes were Khairy Jamaluddin as Health Minister who swapped portfolios with Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, who is now Science, Technology and Innovation Minister.

There are 31 ministers and 38 deputies in Ismail Sabri's cabinet.

Four ministers from the previous Cabinet were dropped from the latest Cabinet line-up under Ismail Sabri.

They are Datuk Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali (plantation industries and commodities), Dr Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri (religious affairs) and Datuk Seri Redzuan Yusof (special functions).

Umno's Datuk Ser Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasrah, who quit as Energy and Natural Resources Minister on Aug 3, was not reappointed to the Cabinet and his replacement is Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan from PAS.

The new Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister is Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, while the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) is PAS vice president Senator Idris Ahmad.

Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad, who was the rural and regional development minister, is the new Special Functions Minister.