Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced a new Cabinet line-up this afternoon which included nine new faces. It saw the demotion of three ministers and removal of a number of others. However, most of those from the previous Cabinet had been retained. This is the first time in his 18 years as prime minister that Mahathir took so long to form his Cabinet.

One major surprise was that Razaleigh Hamzah, former president of the defunct S46 and former finance minister, was not in the line up. Razaleigh was rumoured to take over the finance ministry from Daim Zainuddin. Nevertheless, another key leader of S46, Rais Yatim, was appointed Minister in the PM's Office.

In a statement emailed to malaysiakini , former opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said the new team was "most disappointing" because "many old tired faces remain".

He said even the few new Cabinet members "have not distinguished themselves as millennium leaders with an open and liberal outlook who could 'break the shackles of the past'". The millennium Cabinet, he said, looked very "Jurassic".

Lim also lamented that the new team included some of those who lost in the recent general elections and expressed his surprise that a relatively unknown, Musa Mohamad, was appointed to replace Najib Tun Razak as Education Minister.

[#1]See who's on and who's out[/#]