PUTRAJAYA, March 11 — Having very few PAS representatives in the Cabinet as compared to other parties is not an issue for the party, PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said.

The newly-minted environment minister said what was more important was the cooperation forged with other parties to form the Perikatan Nasional coalition which Malaysians had been hoping for.

"Most importantly we are going to prove our capabilities,” he told a press conference after chairing his first post-cabinet meeting here today.

In addition to Tuan Ibrahim, other PAS leaders who joined the Cabinet were the party’s secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan who was appointed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) and its Central Working Committee member Datuk Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali as Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities.

Five PAS representatives appointed as deputy ministers were Pendang MP Awang Hashim (Human Resource Ministry); Rantau Panjang MP Datuk Siti Zaliah Mohd Yusoff (Women and Family); Pengkalan Chepa MP Ahmad Marzuk Shaary (Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department — Religious Affairs); Tumpat MP Datuk Che Abdullah Mat Nawi (Agriculture and Food Industry) and Kuala Terengganu MP Ahmad Amzad Hashim (Science, Technology and Innovation).

When asked on Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement today that all Cabinet ministers have been instructed to declare their assets, Tuan Ibrahim assured that the 18 PAS MPs would do so.

Muhyiddin after chairing his first Cabinet meeting today reportedly said that all Cabinet members were required to declare their assets to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and they would have to submit the declaration forms within a month. — Bernama