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Malaysia's prime minister announces 68-member Cabinet

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi unveiled a streamlined 68-member Cabinet yesterday, dropping half the ministers in his previous administration and keeping the crucial finance portfolio for himself.

"My expectation is that they will perform better than before and I believe ... they are capable and they will be able to fulfill the [government's] agenda," he told reporters.

The new Cabinet was formed after the March 8 general elections in which Abdullah's ruling National Front coalition suffered a massive erosion of its two-thirds majority in parliament.

It now has only 140 lawmakers in the 222-member parliament, leaving Abdullah a smaller pool to appoint ministers. Abdullah's last Cabinet had 90 members.

The new Cabinet has 32 full ministers and 36 deputy ministers. Of the full ministers, only 17 were from the previous administration, and only five retained their former portfolios.

Abdullah also retained four ministerial positions for its coalition partner the Malaysian Chinese Association, and one for the Malaysian Indian Congress.

Among the major casualties was Minister of International Trade Rafidah Aziz, who was dropped from the Cabinet. She was replaced by Muhyiddin Yasin, who was the agriculture minister in the previous administration.

He refused to say why he dropped the firebrand Rafidah, who has successfully led many trade negotiations but has also faced accusations of corruption.

"She should also make way for someone new to take over MITI," Abdullah said.

Abdullah also appointed a minister to oversee reforms in the judiciary, which has come under attack for its cozy relationship with politicians.

In another major change, Abdullah moved longtime Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar to the Home Ministry, which was merged with the Internal Security Ministry that was previously headed by the prime minister himself.
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