KUALA LUMPUR: All the new ministers, including two Deputy Prime Ministers, have been sworn in before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at Istana Negara.
Also attending and witnessing the ministers take their oaths of office, loyalty and secrecy was Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah.
The ceremony, held at Balairung Seri Istana Negara or the throne room of the palace, began around 3pm with the national anthem Negaraku.
Also present were Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his wife, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Anwar was sworn in as the 10th Prime Minister on Nov 24. There are a total of 28 ministers in the Cabinet.
The ministers took their oaths in six groups, with Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), the two Deputy Prime Ministers, being the first to take their oaths of office.
Ahmad Zahid will also hold the Rural and Regional Development portfolio while Fadillah will be the Plantations and Commodities Minister.
The next group comprised Anthony Loke, who will return to the Transport Ministry which he was in charge of when Pakatan Harapan was in power between 2018 and 2020, Mohamad Sabu (Agriculture and Food Security), Rafizi Ramli (Economy), Nga Kor Ming (Local Government Development) and Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan (Defence).
They were followed by the third group comprising Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi (Works), Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (Home), Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz (International Trade and Industry), Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin (Higher Education) and Chang Lih Kang (Science and Technology).
The fourth group consisted of Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri (Women, Family and Community Development), Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub (Domestic Trade and Cost of Living), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (Law and Institutional Reforms), Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (Natural Resources and Climate Change) and Datuk Ewon Benedick (Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives).
The fifth cohort of ministers were made up of Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir (Foreign), Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing (Tourism), Fahmi Fadzil (Digital Communications), Fadhlina Sidek (Education) and Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang (Unity).
The last group were Datuk Mohd Na'im Mokhtar (Religious Affairs), Hannah Yeoh (Youth and Sports), Sivakumar Varatharaju (Human Resource), Dr Zaliha Mustafa (Health) and Minister in Prime Minister's Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali.
Anwar will also serve as Finance Minister, a post he held from 1991 until his sacking in 1998.
After taking their oaths of office, the ministers then signed the official instrument of appointment, witnessed by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and Government Chief Secretary Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali.
Saifuddin, Zafrul, Zambry and Dr Mohd Na'im were sworn in as Senators on Saturday morning before they assumed their ministerial portfolios.
Anwar had previously said that the deputy ministers would only be named at a later date.
