PKR's
Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh has been named as the non-executive chairman of
the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), the latest in a series
of political appointments to government-linked companies (GLCs) and
agencies.
MDEC is a GLC under the communications and digital ministry headed by PKR's Fahmi Fadzil.
A statement from MDEC said his appointment took effect on April 1.
It also said Syed Ibrahim had "extensive experience in the field of
telecommunications", having worked at Telekom Malaysia for 25 years.
"He is experienced in customer relationship management, project
management, marketing and trade sales, segmentation and analysis as well
as the management of information technology and systems. His last
position was assistant general manager," it said.
The government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has been
criticised of late over politically linked appointments to government
agencies and GLCs.
These include the appointments of two Umno politicians as the heads
of powerful government bodies in charge of Bumiputera economic
development: Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki at Majlis Amanah Rakyat or Mara, and
Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub at Felcra.
Meanwhile, PKR’s Balik Pulau MP Bakhtiar Wan Chik was named to head
finance ministry-owned investment arm MyCreative Ventures Sdn Bhd, and
Amanah's Husam Musa appointed as chairman of Syarikat Perumahan Negara
Bhd.
Just last month, it was reported that PKR's Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid
was appointed to head Tekun Nasional, an agency tasked with providing
financing facilities to Bumiputera businesses under the entrepreneur
development and cooperatives ministry.
It was also reported that Amanah MP Sany Hamzan had been named as
Abdullah's deputy, while former Upko president Bernard Dompok was
appointed as chairman of SME Corp, also under the same ministry.
DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke defended the series of
appointments, saying they did not involve GLCs listed in Bursa Malaysia.
"Those appointed now are not at such companies, but at statutory
bodies, authorities and so on. They are regulatory bodies and do not
involve business and so on," Loke had said.
This drew a sharp response from a veteran diplomat who hit out in a
recent commentary at the spate of political appointments involving those
aligned with Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
"Anthony Loke might jump through hoops to justify Zahid’s appalling
appointments but the people are not so easily fooled. All they see are
conniving and unprincipled politicians who can’t be trusted to honour
their promises and live up to their own ideals," said former Malaysian
ambassador Dennis Ignatius.
Meanwhile, a civil society activist warned that appointing ruling MPs
to head government agencies would compromise their parliamentary duties
to monitor the executive.
"With such appointments, they may receive additional monies, benefits
and powers, over and above their MPs' allowances," said rights activist
Charles Hector.
"If similar practices of the then pre-GE14 Barisan Nasional regime
are maintained, including political appointment of MPs and politicians,
with no real reforms, then the people may be forced to look elsewhere
for change," he added. - Malaysia Now, 6/4/2023
Press
Release from BERSIH 2.0
9
August 2021
Stop
Using GLC As Political Tools, Reform GLC Appointment
1. The Coalition for Clean
and Fair Elections (BERSIH 2.0) welcomes the news that both UMNO vice-president
Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin and UMNO supreme council member Razlan Rafii
are resigning as chairman of Boustead Holdings and board member of Lembaga
Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) respectively.
2. While the resignation of
the two UMNO politicians may be an act of protest again the Perikatan Nasional
(PN) government, we are afraid their protest will be futile as the vacancy that
they left behind will be quickly used by the PN government to win over other
potential supporters to hold on to power while being a minority government.
3. Positions of government
linked corporations (GLCs) have long been used by the Government of the day and
most rampantly by Perikatan Nasional as political tools to consolidate their
power and induce crossovers of elected representatives. This has had disastrous
impacts on the stability of Malaysian politics with the collapsed of federal
government and several state governments after the Sheraton move. Such abuse of
GLCs and political patronage breeds corruption and cronyism, often at the
expense of the effective functioning of the GLCs with appointments to GLC
positions not based on merit, as in the case of former PRASARANA chairman Datuk
Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman.
4. We call on the the
Perikatan Nasional (PN) government to stop abusing GLC positions as bargaining
chips to win political support and consolidate its power. The PN government
must not use the position in Boustead and LTAT to fish for political support
and fill the positions with their supporters again.
5. Instead, the PN government
should introduce a GLC appointment law that will institute proper processes of
appointment to GLC positions and ensure fairness, transparency and meritocracy.
GLC appointments should be screened by bi-partisan Parliamentary Select
Committees to ensure these appointments are based on merits and not partisan
interest.
6. The new GLC law should
also explicitly ban elected representatives, whether member of parliament or
state assemblyperson, from being appointed to positions in GLCs to prevent
conflict of interest between their role as lawmaker to provide oversight to the
government that
makes appointments to GLC. The law should also compel all GLCs to enhance
disclosure and transparency through periodic reports that should include
important information such as appointment of chairperson and directors, their
remuneration etc.
7. We therefore implore UMNO
and all other political parties to demand and support for such reform to GLC
appointments in order to even the playing field in politics and take away the
power of the incumbent government to abuse GLC as a political tool for
manipulation. Such reform will also ensure GLCs are helmed by qualified,
professional and competent candidates that will strive for excellence and work
for public interest.
Released
by
BERSIH
2.0 Steering Committee
BERSIH 2.0 Secretariat
A-2-8, 8 Avenue Business Centre,
Jalan Sungai Jernih 8/1,
46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel. No. : +603-76280371
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