'Asyraf Wajdi's appointment can led to abuse of power'
SHAH ALAM - The appointment of political leaders to lead in government-linked companies (GLCs) is harmful as there will be a tendency to abuse power for political and personal interests.
Economic and political expert Dr Edmund Terence Gomez said as an example take the appointment of Umno secretary-general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki as Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) chairman, this will bring about various conflicts of interest.
He said based on history, it has been proven that political leaders do abuse their power when holding GLC positions.
'"I don't agree on this political appointment issue... Mara plays an important role in business and education and Mara's role is primarily to help the needy and is an organisation built for the poor and rural people
"When we place a politician in Mara, there is a tendency to abuse their power for political gains and we will discover this in a few months during the state elections held in the six states," he said.
Edmund was a panelist for the first public lecture series of the Corruption-Free Generation organised by Agora Society Malaysia in collaboration with Universiti Malaya Students' Union and Rasuah Busters.
Apart from him, other panelists were former Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj, North-South Initiative executive director and co-founder Adrian Pereira and Asia School of Business Economics Associate Professor Dr Melati Nungsari.
Edmund insisted that the position should be filled by professionals and not by the political elite.
"It needs to be professionals and it must be explained how the selection was made, the reason for the appointment, and these information must be publicised to the people so we know that the appointment was carried out transparently to safeguard the people's interest.
"Why did a politician from Umno fill this position? We already know from the history of Malaysia, some politicians who hold this role had abused their power. For instance, there was a scandal involving Mara, will it happen again? I am worried about that," he said.
Asyraf, who is also Unity Government's Chief Secretariat, was appointed as Mara chairman effective last Friday.
Meanwhile, touching on the government's effort to break monopoly elements in this country, Edmund said it was a good step.
"It will create a healthy competition and give choices to the people where in the end the profit will be returned to the people," he said.
Previously, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government is reviewing all monopolies that exist in the country in an effort to provide better and fairer services to the people at a reasonable cost.
