PUTRAJAYA will terminate the contracts of the chairs and directors of government-linked companies and bodies who were political appointments, chief secretary to the government Mohd Zuki Ali said today

A letter sighted by The Malaysian Insight stated that the cabinet at its meeting yesterday decided to immediately terminate the contracts of chairmen and board members made to federal statutory bodies, Finance Ministry (Incorporated) companies, government-linked companies, government-linked investment companies and key institutions.

The letter was signed by Zuki.

The Malaysian Insight has reached out to the office of the Chief Secretary to the Government for a confirmation but has yet to receive a response.

The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) in its research highlighted the increase in the number of political appointees in federal statutory bodies (FSBs) under former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government.

It said there were 234 such appointments made from August 2021 to September 2022. Of that number, 119 were new entries while 115 were retained from the previous administration led by Muhyiddin Yassin.

According to IDEAS, Umno dominated the number of politicians retained in federal statutory bodies with 52 appointments, while Bersatu had 28 appointments and PAS 11.

It said more than half of the new appointments were from Umno (61), followed by Bersatu (19), Parti Bangsa Malaysia (15), PAS (seven) and MCA (five).

Of the 133 federal statutory bodies, 72 (54%) were directly affected by the appointments and involved 22 out of 27 ministries (81%) during Ismail’s tenure.

The ministries with the most political appointments were in higher education (10), transport, rural development, agriculture and food industries (eight each), and plantation industries and commodities (seven).

The Cooperative Institute of Malaysia saw the largest number of appointments on its board of directors with 10 recognisable politicians, said IDEAS.

The think tank’s research also found that 56 FSBs are highly susceptible to political influence as their chairmen are clearly affiliated with political parties, or are either former MPs, assemblymen or senators.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the government terminated the tenure of Public Service Department director-general Mohd Shafiq Abdullah.

Zuki said the termination of Shafiq’s service is in line with rule 49(3) of the Public Officers Regulations Act (Conduct and Discipline) 1993.

He added that Shafiq, 58, has been retired in accordance with subsection 10(5)(d) of the Pensions Act 1980, which allows him to enjoy the retirement benefits to which he is entitled. – December 15, 2022.