13 political appointments in public unis: Deplorable, says Nik Nazmi

 

At least 13 individuals from political parties under the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government have been appointed either to the board of directors or the board of governors of public universities, this based on checks on the varsities' websites

Among them are Wanita Umno vice-chief Norliza Abdul Rahim who was appointed to the board of governors of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Umno supreme council member Abdul Rahman Dahlan, appointed to the board of governors of Universiti Malaysia Sabah, PAS Youth chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin, appointed to the board of directors of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu and Terengganu PAS commissioner Husain Awang who was appointed to the board of directors of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin.

Selayang Umno Youth vice-chief Mohd Sazili Shahibi, meanwhile, was appointed as deputy vice-chancellor in charge of student affairs at the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).

Former Selangor exco in charge of education, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, told Malaysiakini that the “level of politicisation” involving these appointments was “deplorable”.

This is especially so when the Higher Education Ministry should be dealing with far more pressing matters faced by students under the Covid-19 pandemic, said the Setiawangsa MP.

“They (the ministry) haven’t done that yet at the same time, they had the time to do all this (political appointments).

“That is truly, truly deplorable and it is irresponsible for the Higher Education minister to be doing this at this time,” Nik Nazmi said when contacted by Malaysiakini today.

He also pointed out there were many professionals available who could be appointed to the board of directors or board of governors of public universities instead of politicians.

This was something practised during the time of the Pakatan Harapan administration, he added.

“They can place professionals, that’s fine. But there should be a limit to the politicisation of universities, even more so than with government-linked companies (GLCs).

“Universities should be something that are much more independent and protected from all these partisan matters,” Nik Nazmi said.

The PN administration has received criticism in the past for replacing technocrats in various GLCs, government agencies and so on with politicians aligned to the government.

The list of the 13 individuals linked to the PN government who received appointments in public universities are as follows:

1. Norliza Abdul Rahim (Umno) – Universiti Sains Malaysia

2. Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman (Mubarak) – Universiti Malaysia Pahang

3. Awang Adek Hussin (Umno) – Universiti Sains Malaysia

4. Abdul Rahman Dahlan (Umno) – Universiti Malaysia Sabah

5. Md Alwi Che Ahmad (Umno) – Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

6. Khairul Ezwan Harun (Umno) – Universiti Utara Malaysia

7. Ibrahim Abu Shah (Umno) – Universiti Teknologi Mara

8. Ahmad Shalimin Ahmad Shaffie (Umno) – Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

9. Khairil Nizam Khirudin (PAS) – Universiti Malaysia Terengganu

10. Md Sharif Shamsuddin (Umno) – Universiti Malaysia Pahang

11. Apli Yusoff (Umno) – Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin

12. Husain Awang (PAS) – Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin

13. Mohd Sazili Shahibi (Umno) – Universiti Teknologi Mar- Mkini