Najib chairs first Cabinet meeting after appointment of additional ministers

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today chaired the first meeting of the Cabinet after the appointment of additional ministers last week.

The three new Cabinet members, namely Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, and Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong and Datuk Mah Siew Keong, also attended the meeting.

The meeting started at about 9.45am at Bangunan Perdana Putra here.

It was the first Cabinet meeting for Wee and Mah, but not so for Liow who had held the post of Health Minister in 2008 until the 13th general election (PRU13) in May last year.

Najib, when making the announcement last week, appointed Liow, who is also MCA president, Wee who is the MCA deputy president, and Mah, who is the Gerakan president, into the Cabinet.

In addition, three MCA vice-presidents namely Datuk Lee Chee Leong, Datuk Chua Tee Yong, and Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun were appointed as Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister, Deputy Finance Minister, and Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister.

The entry of the MCA and Gerakan representatives into the Cabinet line-up was to strengthen the concept of power-sharing in national administration involving all communities.