Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced his top cabinet picks today and barred his predecessor, Najib Razak, from going overseas, saying there was enough evidence to investigate his links to a multi-billion-dollar scandal.
Immigration authorities announced a travel ban on Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor just minutes after the ousted Prime Minister said they were leaving on a weeklong trip overseas to rest after his thumping electoral defeat.
During a day of fast-moving events, Mahathir named his first few Cabinet Ministers, including Lim Guan Eng, a former banker and qualified chartered accountant, as finance minister.
Lim is the chief minister of Penang state, but is largely unknown in international financial circles. Mahathir also named a defence minister and a home or interior minister, but said other appointments would be made later.
Mahathir and Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the wife of his jailed ally Anwar Ibrahim, make up the rest of the cabinet.
Source: AIR