The Cabinet of Malaysia (Malay: Jemaah Menteri Malaysia) is the executive branch of the Government of Malaysia. Led by the Prime Minister, the cabinet is a council of ministers who are accountable collectively to the Parliament. According to the Article 43 of the Federal Constitution, members of the Cabinet can only be selected from members of either houses of Parliament. Formally, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong appoints all Ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister.[1] The constitution is amended by repealing the Clause (8) of Article 43, enabling a person who is a member of State Legislative Assembly to continue to serve even while serving as a minister or deputy minister in the cabinet. Ministers other than the Prime Minister shall hold office during the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, unless the appointment of any Minister shall have been revoked by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the advice of the Prime Minister but any Minister may resign from office. In practice, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is obliged to follow the advice of the Prime Minister on the appointment and dismissal of ministers.
Members of the Cabinet must be members of either house of Parliament. Most ministers are appointed from the lower house, the Dewan Rakyat, although a few are appointed from the upper house, the Dewan Negara. The Prime Minister must be a member of the Dewan Rakyat. Although Deputy Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries may be appointed to each portfolio, they are not included in the Cabinet. The Cabinet meets weekly, every Wednesday.[2] After the position of Parliamentary Secretary was removed and partial live telecasts of Parliament proceedings began in 2008, Cabinet meetings were moved to Fridays whenever Parliament sat, so as to allow Ministers to personally answer questions during Question Time in Parliament.[3]
The composition of the Cabinet, and the number of portfolios depends mainly on the wishes of the Prime Minister at the time. However, the post of Finance Minister was considered so important as to be a necessity, and as a result was incorporated by the Minister of Finance (Incorporation) Act 1957 (Act 375).[4] The position of Deputy Prime Minister is one that exists by convention, and as a result a Prime Minister could theoretically form a Cabinet without a Deputy.[5]
Deputy ministers exist for each portfolio, although they are not considered members of the Cabinet. The position of Deputy Minister was created by constitutional amendment in 1960. The office of parliamentary secretary for each ministry exists but none were appointed after the 2008 Malaysian general election. Parliamentary secretaries were provided for by an amendment in 1963. Deputy ministers and parliamentary secretaries are also appointed from members of Parliament, and deputise for the ministers in government ministries and in Parliament respectively. An additional office, that of the Political Secretary, exists. Political Secretaries need not be members of Parliament. Before taking office, all members of the Cabinet, Deputy Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, and Political Secretaries take an oath of secrecy concerning the proceedings of the Cabinet.[5]
An outline of the functions of the Cabinet are as follows:[6]
23 cabinets have taken place in Malaysia since 1957 headed by nine Prime Ministers.
| No. | Name of Cabinet | Head of Cabinet | Period of Office | Composition | |
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| 1 | Rahman I | Tunku Abdul Rahman | 31 August 1957 – 19 August 1959 |
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| 2 | Rahman II | 22 August 1959 – 24 April 1964 |
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| 3 | Rahman III | 25 April 1964 – 1969 |
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| 4 | Rahman IV | 1969 – 21 December 1970 | 9 ministers | ||
| 5 | Razak I | Abdul Razak Hussein | 22 December 1970 – 24 August 1974 |
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| 6 | Razak II | 25 August 1974 – 14 January 1976 |
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| 7 | Hussein I | Hussein Onn | 15 January 1976 – 8 July 1978 |
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| 8 | Hussein II | 9 July 1978 – 15 July 1981 |
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| 9 | Mahathir I | Mahathir Mohamad | 16 July 1981 – 21 April 1982 |
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| 10 | Mahathir II | 22 April 1982 – 2 August 1986 |
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| 11 | Mahathir III | 11 August 1986 – 26 October 1990 |
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| 12 | Mahathir IV | 22 October 1990 – 3 May 1995 |
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| 13 | Mahathir V | 4 May 1995 – 14 December 1999 |
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| 14 | Mahathir VI | 15 December 1999 – 2 November 2003 |
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| 15 | Abdullah I | Abdullah Ahmad Badawi | 3 November 2003 – 26 March 2004 |
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| 16 | Abdullah II | 27 March 2004 – 18 March 2008 |
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| 17 | Abdullah III | 19 March 2008 – 9 April 2009 |
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| 18 | Najib I | Najib Razak | 10 April 2009 – 15 May 2013 |
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| 19 | Najib II | 16 May 2013 – 9 May 2018 |
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| 20 | Mahathir VII | Mahathir Mohamad | 10 May 2018 – 24 February 2020 |
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| 21 | Muhyiddin | Muhyiddin Yassin | 1 March 2020 – 16 August 2021 |
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| 22 | Ismail Sabri | Ismail Sabri Yaakob | 27 August 2021 – 24 November 2022 |
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| 23 | Anwar | Anwar Ibrahim | 24 November 2022 – present |
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See main article: Anwar Ibrahim cabinet.
The current cabinet, led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, succeeds the Ismail Sabri cabinet. Anwar formed his cabinet following the 2022 General Election.
As of 12 December 2023, the makeup of the current Cabinet is as follows:
Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security
Ministry of Communications
Ministry of Digital
Ministry of Domestic Trade and Costs of Living
Ministry of Economy
Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation
Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Co-operatives
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Home Affairs
Ministry of Human Resources
Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability
Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities
Ministry of Rural and Regional Development
Ministry of Science and Technology
Ministry of Tourism
Ministry of Local Government Development
Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development
Ministry of Works
Ministry of Youth and Sports
Ministry of Health
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
Others