Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that two of Malaysia's ministries would be split into four during his Cabinet reshuffle, in order to tackle Malaysia's environmental, energy transition, communications, and digital issues.
Anwar split the former Ministry of Communications and Digital, and the former Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, The Star reported.
New Communications Ministry & Digital Ministry
Malaysia’s former communications and digital ministry was split into:
- Ministry of Communications
- Ministry of Digital
Fahmi Fadzil, the former Minister of Communications and Digital, is now helming the Communications ministry.
Fahmi, a PKR man, was caught up in controversy earlier this year over comments on his TikTok live videos.
He also announced a "killswitch" for the Coldplay concert in Malaysia, so as to avoid a Matty Healy-style repeat incident.
Meanwhile, Gobind Singh Deo of the DAP took on the role of Digital Minister.
Previously, Gobind was the Minister of Communications and Multimedia under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from 2018 to 2020.
Gobind was reportedly offered a role in Anwar's first cabinet, but turned it down to focus on his Member of Parliament (MP) duties.
His brother, Ramkarpal Singh Deo, vacated his post as a deputy minister of legal affairs so as to avoid allegations of nepotism.
Fahmi confirmed that Malaysian news agency Bernama and the Information and Broadcasting Departments would fall under his ministry, while the Personal Data Protection Department would be handled by the Digital Ministry.
Split to focus on digital transformation & communicating government's information
Anwar said that a standalone Ministry of Communications was needed to improve the effectiveness of disseminating government plans and programs, as reported by The Star.
He claimed that his government was facing a "challenge" to communicate effectively and satisfactorily to the people through the media and social media platforms.
Anwar added that a separate Ministry of Digital was needed, as digital transformation is a major focus of his government.
The Ministry of Digital would focus on artificial intelligence and new data centres, as well as enhancing the understanding of digital issues among students, Anwar said.
Digital transformation is part of Anwar's Digital Native Agenda to leverage on the digital economy to drive Malaysia's economic and social growth.
Malaysia’s digital economy is expected to contribute to about a quarter of the nation’s gross domestic product by 2025, Free Malaysia Today reported.
Malaysia's environment ministry split into 2 ministries
Similarly, Anwar split Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change into:
- Ministry of Energy Transition and Public Utilities
- Ministry of Natural Resources and Sustainability
Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof, a Sarawak politician, is the new Minister of Energy Transition and Public Utilities.
He was formerly the Minister of Plantation and Commodities from 2022 until the reshuffle, replaced by Umno man Johari Abdul Ghani.
Meanwhile, the former Minister of Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, the PKR vice president, is the Minister of Natural Resources and Sustainability.
Split believed to improve administrative efficiency & achieve NETR
Anwar did not elaborate further on the reason behind this split.
However, sociopolitical analyst and professor at Universiti Malaya Awang Azman Awang Pawi told Bernama that this move was likely aimed at improving the government's administrative efficiency.
Alternatively, it is believed that having the energy transition department under its own ministry would facilitate the government to achieve its National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR).
In August 2023, the NETR was launched to facilitate the country’s transition to renewable energy to transform its energy system, according to the Ministry of Economy.
The NETR aims to increase Malaysia’s installed renewable energy capacity to 23 per cent by 2025, New Straits Times reported.
Ministers sworn in with new appointments
One year after Anwar rose to power as the head of Malaysia’s “unity government”, the Cabinet reshuffle also saw changes in several portfolios to various other ministries.
At around 2:40 pm on Dec. 12, the cabinet ministers and deputy ministers with their new appointments attended their swearing-in ceremony before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Abdullah Shah, Malay Mail reported.
Top image from GobindSinghDeo/X and PetraJayaMP/X.