Mixed reaction from Opposition to new Cabinet - The Star

PENANG: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi made some “unusual choices” in his new Cabinet line-up, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said.

He said, however, it was the Prime Minister’s prerogative to choose his team, adding that he would have had his own reasons for doing so.

Among the unusual choices were the exclusion of Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz and the inclusion of an “old face” like Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib, which was a name he did not expect to surface, Lim said.

He said he would try to fix an appointment to meet with Abdullah after the swearing-in of the new Cabinet to determine what was in store for Penangites.

“We hope the Federal Government will cooperate and keep its promises made to Penangites before the election,” he said after receiving a courtesy call from a PAS delegation from Kelantan.

PAS vice-president and Kelantan state executive councillor Datuk Husam Musa, who led the delegation, said it was not the size or faces in Cabinet that mattered.

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/19/nation/20688961&sec=nation]