THE Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) said today it had appointed the former chairman of the country’s biggest bank, Maybank, as its new chairman.

Reuters reported that Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor will replace Shahrir Samad, who was brought in last year to fix management issues at the agency and rebuild support for Najib Razak’s government ahead of the May 9 general election.

Shahrir resigned shortly after the shock election results, in which Barisan Nasional was defeated by Pakatan Harapan led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Megat Zaharuddin was chairman of Maybank for over seven years, and had experience in the oil and gas sector for 31 years, Felda said in the statement.

“Seven new board members, excluding the chairman, including professionals and subject matter experts were also elected effective on the same day,” the statement said.

Shahrir was appointed as Felda’s chairman in January last year.

Felda settlers form the majority of voters in at least 54 of the 222 seats in Parliament, and have been pivotal in Barisan Nasional winning every election since Malaysia’s independence in 1957. – July 27, 2018.