PETALING JAYA: Datuk Dr Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri has apologised for his shortcomings as the former minister in charge of religious affairs after he was dropped from the new Cabinet of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

       “I apologise to all federal-level religious agencies under the Prime Minister’s Department if I had been harsh throughout my tenure,” he said in a statement yesterday.

       He congratulated his successor, PAS vice-president and senator Idris Ahmad, on his appointment to the portfolio under the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

       He also congratulated his former deputy Datuk Ahmad Marzuk Shaary. The PAS’ Pengkalan Chepa MP kept his post as the deputy minister.Zulkifli, a non-politician senator, expressed hope for Malaysia to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

       “May our beloved country continue to prosper,” he said.

       Kuala Nerus MP Datuk Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali also congratulated his PAS colleague Idris over his new appointment.

       “May the country be developed and prosperous under the new Cabinet led by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob,” said the former plantation industries and commodities minister.

       Apart from Zulkifli and Khairuddin, another former minister dropped is Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s Alor Gajah MP Datuk Seri Redzuan Yusof, formerly a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (special functions).

       The new Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister is Ampang MP Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin while her fellow leader from Bersatu, Mersing MP Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad, previously the rural and regional development minister, is now the new Special Functions Minister.

       Umno’s Lenggong MP Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah, who quit as energy and natural resources minister on Aug 3, was not reappointed. Replacing him is PAS’ Kota Baru MP Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, the minister in charge of law in the previous Cabinet.