Letter to editor
THE G25 recently issued a statement expressing concern over Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s remarks about political appointments into government-linked companies (GLCs).
Leaving aside the merits of political appointments into GLCs (that itself is a topic worthy of several Ph.D theses), G25 seems to be barking up the wrong tree over this issue.
As I understand, Muhyiddin was talking in the context of the appointments should PN form the next government. In other words, he’s talking about something which has not happened yet.
But why isn’t G25 taking issue with political appointments that have already taken place? The current unity government has made so many political appointments. The irony is that Pakatan Harapan (PH) of which the Prime Minister (PM) is from used to criticise political appointments into GLCs. Hypocrite much?
Several days ago, former UMNO Minister Datuk Seri Shabery Cheek was appointed FELDA chairman. Earlier UMNO’s Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki was made chairman of Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA); former Kepala Batas MP Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican chairman of MATRADE (Malaysia External Trade Development); and Kelantan UMNO chief Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub is chairman of Felcra Bhd.
Meanwhile, PKR’s Ledang MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh is chairman of the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). PKR Balik Pulau MP Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik is chairman of MyCreative Ventures Sdn Bhd under the Finance Ministry while defeated PKR Kapar MP Datuk Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid is the chairman of Tekun Nasional.
Within Amanah, Faiz Fadzil has been appointed as the chairman of the Fisheries Development Authority and Datuk Mahfuz Omar as chairman of the Farmers’ Organisation Authority (FOA). Both are agencies under the Agriculture and Food Security Minister helmed by Amanah president Datuk Seri Mohamd Sabu.
There are many others who had been appointed by the current unity government. Why didn’t G25 utter a word over these appointments that had ALREADY happened? Why kick up a fuss over Muhyiddin’s statement when he’s not made any recent political appointments?
Lim Soo Kiang
Balik Pulau
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
