Harapan’s political appointments 'different' from PN's, says Amanah rep

The previous Pakatan Harapan-led administration has a different formula for making political appointments than the current administration, according to Amanah central committee member Faiz Fadzil.

He said that while Harapan did make political appointments to lead government-linked companies, it never appointed politicians to head GLCs that have a commercial role.

“For example, there are some under the Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry (MOA), but these are government agencies and their staff are civil servants.

“These agencies are meant to manage issues relating to target groups under the MOA,” Faiz told Malaysiakini yesterday.

For GLCs engaged in commercial activities, the former Fisheries Development Board chairperson said Harapan had appointed technocrats to lead such efforts.

“Since the GLC is appointed to do business, it should be led by technocrats or professionals so that it can perform its true functions. It is not a place for political reward,” Faiz (photo, below) added.

The issue of political appointments has come to a head as Harapan-era appointments - whether political or otherwise - are being replaced by Perikatan Nasional (PN) MPs.

Among others, Machang MP Ahmad Yaakub has been appointed to replace the corporate leader Bakke Salleh as Malaysia Palm Oil Board chairperson. Bakke was told to vacate his post.

Critics of the appointments said these posts incentivise the MPs to maintain support for PN and help Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin consolidate his grip on power.

Speaking on the latest appointments, Faiz claimed that PN has no intention to institute reforms as Harapan had done.

“There is concern that the poor governance seen in GLCs before - including misappropriation of funds and losses - may be repeated if there is political interference that we are seeing now.

“The country will not advance if PN does not implement institutional reforms, let alone making political appointments that are not the people’s choice since the political parties in PN are the ones that lost the last general election,” Faiz added. - Mkini