Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today explained Pakatan Harapan's procedure in appointing the new cabinet, and promised that it will not contain more than 30 ministers, compared to BN's 35 in the last administration.

Mahathir said the method he is using – to first appoint 10 key ministers who can get to work immediately, and make additions later – is similar to what was done by the country's first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman.

"This is a new cabinet that has never been set up before, apart from the one by Tunku Abdul Rahman in 1957, where he at the time started with a small cabinet with less than 10 people that included three British officers...