Redzuan also clarified that the size of the Cabinet was based on the number of ministers.

“I want to clarify that the Cabinet has 32 members, not 70. It’s not bloated. Deputy ministers are not members of the Cabinet.

“So, there’s no need for the Cabinet to be downsized. The number of ministers in the PN government is only slightly different from (the number in) the PH administration,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was responding to Khalid Samad (PH-Shah Alam), who had remarked on the size of the Cabinet while debating the 2021 budget proposals recently.

Redzuan said the duties of those in the PN administration had not reduced amid the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that government projects and programmes were ongoing although implemented differently.

Responding to calls from several MPs, including Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Ind-Langkawi), for ministers to take a pay cut, Redzuan said ministers and their deputies had already donated their salaries for two months to the Covid-19 fund.

He said this signified the government’s regard for the people.

He also said the rise in funding for the Prime Minister’s Department (PMD) in the budget, from RM7.9 billion to RM11.7 billion, was because nine agencies had been reshuffled and put under PMD with the change in government.

According to him, there are 65 agencies under the department as opposed to 56 previously, leading to an increase in operational costs and expenditures for emoluments and wages, among others.