New laws needed to prevent abuse of GLC appointments, says Bersih 2.0

PETALING JAYA: The vacancies in government-linked companies (GLC) due to resignations by Umno members should not be used by Perikatan Nasional to fish for support, says Bersih 2.0.

"While the resignation of the two Umno politicians may be an act of protest against the Perikatan Nasional government, we are afraid their protest could be futile as the vacancy that they left behind will be quickly used by the PN government to win over other potential supporters to hold on to power while being a minority government," the electoral watchdog said in a statement on Monday (Aug 9).

The statement by Bersih 2.0 comes in the wake of resignations by Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin and supreme council member Razlan Rafii as chairman of Boustead Holdings and board member of Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) respectively.

They said that their resignations were done in line with Umno's recent decision to withdraw support for Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Prime Minister and the Perikatan administration.

The group added that such a ploy could have a disastrous effect on the GLCs including political stability in the country.

Bersih said that GLC posts have been used by the government as a political tool to consolidate power as well as enticing party hopping among elected representatives.

"Such abuse of GLCs and political patronage breeds corruption and cronyism, often at the expense of the effective functioning of the GLCs with appointments to GLC positions not based on merit," the group said.

As such, Bersih 2.0 said the government should introduce laws to ensure transparency in the appointments to GLCs posts.

"GLC appointments should be screened by bi-partisan parliamentary select committees to ensure these appointments are based on merit and not partisan interest," it added.

The group also said that the new laws should prohibit any elected representatives from being appointed to positions in GLCs.

This, it said, was to avoid conflict of interests between their role as lawmakers serving as check and balance.

Bersih 2.0 added that the new law should also make it mandatory for all GLCs to disclose and periodically report on important information such as appointment of chairperson and directors and their salary.

The group urged all political parties to support such a new law to ensure a level playing field in politics while preventing abuse of GLCs as a political tool for manipulation.