PETALING JAYA: Questions are being raised over the fate of political appointees in government-linked companies (GLCs) and government-linked investment companies (GLICs) following a leaked circular on the purported termination of their contracts.
The circular, which made its rounds on social media, was purportedly signed by Chief Secretary to the Government Zuki Ali and directed to the secretaries-general of each ministry.
It said the Cabinet had agreed to immediately terminate the contracts of political appointees who were made chairmen or board members of federal statutory bodies, companies under Minister of Finance Incorporated (MoF Inc), GLCs and GLICs.
This decision was made at a Cabinet meeting yesterday, according to the circular.
FMT has reached out to the government for confirmation on the circular’s authenticity.
Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his successor, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, had made numerous political appointments after they were appointed to the post.
The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) had pointed out that Ismail had made 234 political appointments from August 2021 to September this year.
Of that number, 119 were new entries while 115 were retained from the previous administration led by Muhyiddin, the think tank said in October.
Umno dominated the number of politicians retained in federal statutory bodies with 52, while Bersatu had 28 appointments, and PAS 11.
More than half of the new appointments were from Umno (61), followed by Bersatu (19), Parti Bangsa Malaysia (15), PAS (seven) and MCA (five).
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