PUTRAJAYA (May 6): While Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has acknowledged that his ministers are young and that some have made mistakes when carrying out their ministerial duties, he assured that there will be no restructuring of his Cabinet.

He also gave a score of five over 10 when asked to rate his Cabinet ministers for their performance over the past one year.

"[That's] about 50%. I'm very conservative because I've been in the government for 22 years. I know how government functions but these people are new, [so] they do not know how government functions," he told a press conference here today.

"On top of it, they are afraid of being accused of wrongdoings, and all these things make decision-making by them more difficult. But they are learning very fast.

"Yes, sometimes they have come to me because I have that experience. I try to teach and try to guide them so that they can perform. But they are performing. I don't see any reason why I should restructure the Cabinet. I believe that eventually they are going to be as good as any experienced members," he added.

Asked to confirm if this meant there would be no reshuffling of the Cabinet, he said: "There will be no Cabinet reshuffle, am I clear?"