Waythamoorthy is now a minister at the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of national unity and social wellbeing while Liew is deputy minister of defence.

Others sworn in were Amanah’s Raja Kamarul Bahrin Raja Ahmad (deputy minister of housing and local government), PPBM’s Mohd Radzi Md Jidin (deputy minister of economic affairs) and PPBM’s Marzuki Yahya (deputy foreign minister).

They were among eight individuals who were earlier sworn in as senators at the Dewan Negara.

After taking his oath as senator, Waythamoorthy said he felt more comfortable working for the present government than he had under the previous administration.

“I feel much more confident with the Pakatan Harapan government, that they will resolve the long-standing issues involving the marginalised Indian community as well as other marginalised communities,” he said.

Immediately after the swearing in at the Dewan Negara, the senators went to Istana Negara for another swearing in as ministers and deputy ministers.

Four years ago, Waythamoorthy, who just turned 52, resigned as the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Deparment – a post he accepted under a deal inked with former prime minister Najib Razak.

He had then said he was disappointed that the Najib government had failed to fulfil its promise to attend to problems faced by Malaysian Indians.

He made headlines in 2007 when he and several activists including his brother, rights lawyer P Uthayakumar, were involved in a massive protest by Hindraf in Kuala Lumpur to highlight the plight of the Indian community.

With the latest appointments, the Cabinet now has 27 ministers and 27 deputy ministers as compared to 35 ministers and 33 deputy ministers in 2016 during Najib’s administration.