FORMER transport minister Anthony Loke today said two Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) board members appointed during his tenure have been removed. 

In a Facebook post, he named the board members as Afzal Abdul Rahim and Ragunath Kesavan, whom he described as “professionals and not a member of any political parties related to Pakatan Harapan”.

Loke said Afzal, who is also the chief executive officer of broadband service provider TIME dotCom, and an independent board member of the CIMB Group, had refused to accept an allowance for his board duties and had served the body on a pro bono basis as it was a form of national service to him. 

Ragunath, who was the former chairman of the Bar Council, came on board later to fill the need for a member with a strong legal background.

“I appointed him although I knew that he was a strong critic of the then PH government,” Loke said of Ragunath. 

“While I can understand that it is the prerogative of the sitting minister to appoint or remove any board members of statutory bodies under the ministry, can’t they differentiate between professional and political appointees?”

Loke said that when he was transport minister, he did not terminate the services of professionals or non-politicians just because they were appointed by the previous government.

“Are we asking too much to have some independent minds and critical voices within the government structure? Perhaps. Like what Tan Sri Muhyiddin said, ‘this is not the government that you voted for’,” he said, referring to the prime minister’s recent live speech telecast on the Covid-19 pandemic.

CAAM has declined to comment on the issue while The Malaysian Insight is still awaiting a response to a request for comment from Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong.

The PH federal government was ousted in late February after one of its component parties, Bersatu left the pact to form Perikatan Nasional with Umno and PAS. The defection of Bersatu and several PKR member gave the new coalition the numbers in parliament to form a stronger Malay-Muslim government.

The new government’s removal of several people from government-linked companies and statutory bodies has also been slammed by former international trade and industry minister Rafidah Aziz.

She said there was no justification for the removals except for the excuse that they were political appointees.

“(They were) not evaluated according to their performance,” Rafidah said.

In recent weeks, a number of heads of government agencies appointed by the former government have been replaced or have tendered their resignation.

These include experienced corporate figure Bakke Salleh, who has been removed as chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Khazanah Research Institute chairman Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, Bank Rakyat Bhd chairman Noripah Kamso, Socso chairman Zakri Khir, Mara chairman Hasnita Hashim and Human Resource Development Fund chairman Noor Farida Ariffin. – April 9, 2020.