Malaysian ministers must declare assets: Badawi

Singapore, Mar 18 (UNI) Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi wants the newly appointed ministers and deputy ministers to declare their assets and give better performance than the previous government.

It is important that their assets are known to the public, he said in a report carried by the Malaysian national news agency.

Mr Badawi is to spell out direction for the new ministers during tomorrow's first cabinet meeting, being held after the March 8 general elections where his ruling coalition Barisan National lost its two-third majority and returned to form a government with just 140 of the 222 seats in the parliament.

The three main opposition parties -- Democratic Action Party, Parti Islam Se Malaysia and Parti Keadilan Rakyat -- have jointly won one-third seats in the house, the first time in the 51 years of history of independent Malaysia.

UNI XC SYU DS1510