PRIME Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the new chairman of sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali is a director, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement, today.

Three other directors are Mohd Hassan Marican, Dr Sukhdave Singh and Goh Ching Yin. The managing director will be appointed at a later date, said the PMO.

The appointments are effective immediately.

Hassan is well known as former president and chief executive officer of national oil firm Petronas.

Sukhdave was a long-serving officer at Bank Negara Malaysia who rose to deputy governor but left in November last year under controversial circumstances .

His cryptic parting words were: “Leadership is a responsibility and not a privilege” amid reports of his unhappiness over the lack of professional standards at the central bank.

Goh, meanwhile, is from the banking industry. In February she became an independent and non-executive director at Shangri-La Hotels (Malaysia) Bhd.

Former managing director Azman Mokhtar and eight other board members tendered their resignation en bloc four days ago. Their resignation letters were not dated.

In a subsequent statement, Khazanah said their resignations were to pave the way for the new government to effect a smooth and orderly transition of authority.

Dr Mahathir a day later said the resignations were not the result of a witch hunt but to “clear the deck” for restructuring, following Pakatan Harapan’s takeover of the federal government after the May general election. – July 30, 2018.