PM'S CABINET PICKS

A fierce critic of former PM Najib Razak, Lim Guan Eng has been chief minister of Penang since 2008 and is the leader of Chinese-majority Democratic Action Party (DAP). It was only the third time in the country's six decades since independence that the post has gone to a person from the ethnic Chinese minority. Lim was a bitter foe of Mahathir during his earlier 22-year stint as PM and was thrown in jail twice.

The president of Parti Amanah Negara began his political career at the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement in 1975, before joining the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) in 1981. He held various posts in PAS, including as PAS deputy president from 2013 to 2015, before breaking away to form PAS-splinter party Amanah.

The president of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia was sacked from the Malaysian Cabinet in 2015 after disagreements with then PM Najib Razak over the fund misappropriation scandal at 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).