Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) vice-president Peter Pang was today named as the new Sabah Deputy Chief Minister.

He will be replacing Raymond Tan who has been named as the state industrial development minister.

The announcement was made by Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman in Kota Kinabalu today.

peter pang Pang ( right ) would also retain his state Youth and Sports Ministry portfolio.

The change in the deputy chief minister's post was made following Tan's decision to join Gerakan last week.

Prior to that Tan had remained partyless since he left Sabah Progressive Party when it severed ties with Barisan Nasional last year.

Speculation has been rife that an imminent minor cabinet reshuffle would be made following Tan's decision to join the peninsular-based Gerakan.

Along with Tan, former SAPP Youth chief and Elopura assemblyperson Au Kam Wah also joined Gerakan.

A new challenge for Tan

Talking to reporters today, Tan said he respected Musa's decision to relieve him as a deputy chief minister. He however thanked the CM for retaining him in the state cabinet.

"I am honoured to be appointed. In fact, I already tendered my resignation from my cabinet post last September but I was asked by the chief minister to stay on," he said.

He also added that it would be a challenge for him to serve as industrial development minister and pledged to carry out his duties diligently.

"What is important now is harmony among the BN component parties in the state," he said.

Pang also said he was grateful to Musa for having appointed him as a deputy chief minister.

Musa also announced several other changes in the minor reshuffle with several state ministers swapping portfolios.

The chief minister said the appointments were made after consultation with state BN component party leaders. He also said he had obtained Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's agreement on the reshuffle.

"With the new (state) cabinet line-up, our agenda of giving priority to the people remains and we will continue to focus our efforts on working more and talking less," he said, as reported by Bernama .

"Much remains to be implemented in terms of development which surely demands the commitment of the leaders and the undivided support of the people to bring success," he added.