ALL four senior ministers are equal, but Mohamed Azmin Ali will deputise for Muhyiddin Yassin when the latter is away.

“They are all equals, except that I have told the cabinet that in my absence, Azmin will chair the cabinet and do what is necessary,” Muhyiddin told his first press conference as prime minister in Putrajaya today.

He was responding to a question on which among the four is “more senior” than the others.

Azmin is senior minister of international trade and industry.

If Azmin, too, is not around, “the minister on my right will take over… so I have a lot of support”, said Muhyiddin, referring to Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the senior minister of defence.

“I’ve said earlier that it will be a functional cabinet that will deliver in the interest of the nation.”

In a first, the cabinet has four senior ministers instead of a deputy prime minister.

Besides Azmin and Ismail Sabri, the other senior ministers are Fadillah Yusof (works) and Mohd Radzi Md Jidin (education).

In Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s cabinet, Azmin held the economic affairs portfolio.

The former PKR deputy president was among 10 MPs who quit the party and teamed up with Muhyiddin’s faction in Bersatu two weeks ago, leading to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan administration.

All the MPs, except for Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Mohd Rashid Hasnon, have been given cabinet posts in the new Perikatan Nasional government.

Azmin was also one of the architects of the plot to partner with Umno and PAS to form the new pact, which has the backing of Gabungan Parti Sarawak. – March 11, 2020.