Shamsul, who narrowly lost to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in the contest for the Bagan Datuk parliamentary seat in the recent general election, took his oath before Anwar and chief secretary to the government Zuki Ali.

Former Alor Setar MP Chan Ming Kai and Ahmad Farhan Fauzi were also appointed Anwar’s political secretaries.

“May they fulfil the responsibilities entrusted to them well,” the prime minister said in a Facebook post.

Shamsul had been dubbed a “giant-killer” in the past after he managed to defeat then Melaka chief minister Ali Rustam for the Bukit Katil parliamentary seat in 2013.

The PKR man went on to defeat Ali again in the contest for the Hang Tuah Jaya seat in 2018.

In GE15, he lost to Zahid, now the deputy prime minister, by 348 votes.

Chan was the Simpang Pulai assemblyman from 2008 to 2013 and the Indera Kayangan assemblyman from 2013 to 2018.

He was elected the Alor Setar MP in 2018 but was not chosen to defend his seat in GE15.