Swearing in ceremony of Federal Ministers this afternoon

KUALA LUMPUR: A swearing-in ceremony of Federal Ministers is scheduled to be held at Istana Negara at 2.30 pm today.

According to sources, apart from taking the oath of office, loyalty and secrecy, the new members of the Cabinet will also be awarded their respective letters of appointment during the ceremony.

Last Dec 1, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had hinted that there would be a Cabinet reshuffle this month.

Currently, there is a vacancy for the Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living portfolio following the death of Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub on July 23.

The duties are currently assumed by Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali, who is a Minister (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs, and Special Duties) in the Prime Minister's Department.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim attended the Finance Ministry monthly assembly in Putrajaya this morning and at 8 pm, he is scheduled to attend the 25-year Silver Jubilee celebration of the Malaysian Islamic Art Museum here.

Based on the daily media coverage, there are several programmes involving the presence of several cabinet ministers, among them are Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar.

Rafizi is scheduled to launch the Farming Entrepreneur Initiative (INTAN) under the People's Income Initiative (IPR-INTAN) Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) programme at Dewan Bahagia, Hospital Bahagia, Ulu Kinta, in Ipoh, while Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad is in Kelantan to attend the handing-over ceremony of a project at Dataran Air Muleh, in Pasir Mas.

As for Sivakumar, he is in Pahang for the state-level Human Resources Ministry's Hari Bertemu Pelanggan programme at Berjaya Megamall, in Kuantan.

Also having their official programme today is Minister of Higher Education Datuk Seri Mohamed Khalid Nordin, who is scheduled to attend the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the ministry of and the Malaysian Academic Consortium Sdn. Bhd in Putrajaya at 11 am.

Other programmes involving the presence of federal ministers for the day include the signing of an agreement between Malakoff Corporation Bhd with Perbadanan Aset Keretapi and KTMB in Putrajaya at 2.30 pm which is scheduled to be attended by Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

Later at 5 pm, Loke is scheduled to hold a special press conference at the DAP Headquarters.

Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil also has a programme today, where he is scheduled to attend the 'Huawei Cloud Partner Connection 2023' event at a hotel here at 4 pm.

In Shah Alam, Selangor, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek is scheduled to attend the signing of an MoU between the Selangor Technical Development Centre (STDC) and the Ministry of Education to be held at 3 pm.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also the Minister of Rural and Regional Development, is scheduled to attend the "Aspirasi Karnival Usahawan Desa Putrajaya" in Bangi at 8 pm.

-- BERNAMA