Top heads expected to roll at Malaysia's government-linked companies

[PETALING JAYA] A major shake-up among the top brass of Malaysia's government-linked companies (GLCs) is expected in the coming weeks.

Politically-appointed heads of GLCs are being targeted as their appointments were made at the pleasure of the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government that was ousted in a general election last month. Many of these GLC bosses were given board positions in recognition of their services to the former administration.

A source told The Star that there are more than 100 names on a so-called "watch list", including top brass, board members and senior management officials at state-linked firms.

The board of national power utility Tenaga Nasional, for example, comprises several former politicians, and is headed by Tan Sri Leo Moggie, the former president of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak(PBDS) which was part of the BN coalition.

There is also talk that former Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman will be vacating his post as chairman of Sime Darby Plantation Bhd. Boustead Holdings Bhd deputy chairman and group managing director Lodin Wok Kamaruddin is expected to share the same fate.

Meanwhile national investment company PNB could soon see the departure of its chairman Abdul Wahid Omar, a former senator who served as minister in the Prime Minister's Department under the Najib Razak administration.

These changes in the top brass are part of the reform programme of the new Pakatan Harapan government helmed by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK