Pakatan Rakyat leaders slammed Prime Minister Najib Razak for "setting the dubious record" of leading a cabinet with the most unelected representatives.

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang challenged the Najib to compel the new senators-turned-deputy ministers to stand for elections to prove their level of support.

sibu by election lim kit siang "Ask these new senators to stand for election so that they have the mandate of the people," he told reporters after the Pakatan Rakyat supreme council meeting in Petaling Jaya today.

"We will have more by-elections and it will be good for the people, as in Sibu where the (federal government) poured tens of millions of ringgit and the PM visited twice in 10 days," he said tongue-in-cheek.

He added that the 'mini-cabinet reshuffle' is turning the cabinet into the Dewan Negara, oft-criticised as irrelevant, and supports calls for parliamentary reforms.

Lim also took a potshot at Palanivel, stating that he "was not fit to stand as a candidate in Hulu Selangor" but apparently fit to be part of the cabinet.

11 senators-turned-deputy ministers

Four new senators - MIC deputy president G Palanivel, PPP senior vice-president Maglin D'Cruz, MCA vice-presidents Donald Lim and Gan Ping Shou - were appointed deputy ministers today. 

Previously, Najib's cabinet consisted of five senators - Koh Tsu Koon (Prime Minister's Department), Jamil Khir Baharom (Prime Minister's Department), Idris Jala (Prime Minister's Department), Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (Women, Family and Community Development) and Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin (Federal Territories minister).

Senators-turned-deputy ministers includes - Mashitah Ibrahim (Prime Minister's Department), T Murugiah (Prime Minister's Department), Awang Adek Hussin (Finance), Abu Seman Yusop (Home), Heng Seai Kie (Women, Family and Community Development), Maznah Mazlan (Health), A Kohilan Pilay (Foreign Affairs). 

With this, it is roughly a quarter of the deputy ministers posts are held by non-elected representatives. 

In an immediate reaction, Rembau MP and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin 'retweeted' a post by an unknown individual, describing the new cabinet line up as "solid". 

This was met by a retort from Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua who said: "Not without you!"

Only Umno's allies affected in reshuffle