Off the wire
• China stocks fall on Tuesday  • 4 gunned down in Pakistan in separate attacks  • Two policemen killed in bomb blast in Bahrain  • 11 abducted Afghans released in northern Afghan province  • China's supercomputer to support world's largest radio telescope  • Tokyo shares end lower on stronger yen  • Australia's agriculture to be protected in overseas markets: entrepreneur  • West must learn battle against disease is war: expert  • Indian stocks open higher  • Cambodian FM to attend ASEAN meeting in Malaysia  
You are here: 　 Home

2nd LD: Malaysian PM reshuffles cabinet, appoint new deputy

Xinhua, July 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced a cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday, appointing Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to replace Muhyiddin Yassin as his new deputy.

Speaking at a press conference in Putrajaya, Najib said that the reshuffle will strengthen the cabinet to face challenges in managing the country before the 14th general election.

The prime minister said that political considerations and administrative needs were taken into account when the decision was made to reshuffle the cabinet, adding that the decision to replace Muhyiddin was a difficult one but it was necessary to ensure the cabinet to move as a united team.

"I can accept differences in opinion and criticisms as part of the decision-making process, but these differences in opinion should not be in an open forum that can affect the government negatively," he added.

The cabinet reshuffle, first after the general election in 2013, came at a time when Najib was under pressure over allegation on fund embezzlement.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that some 700 million U.S. dollars related to 1MDB, a debt-laden state investment company, had been transferred into Najib's personal account.

Najib has denied taking any public fund for "personal gains," and his legal team is mulling legal action against the Wall Street Journal. The country's longest serving Prime Minister Mahathir, a former mentor of Najib, has openly called for the Prime Minister to step down.

Some local analysts have considered Muhyiddin as a potential candidate to succeed Najib if he steps down. Muhyiddin has also called on Najib to take the lead to explain the 1MDB issue to the people. Endi