KUALA LUMPUR: Politicians are elected to be lawmakers, not run companies, said Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) chairman Thomas Fann (pic).

He said no elected politicians should be appointed to any government-linked companies (GLCs) even if they were qualified.

“They should use their qualifications and expertise to monitor the running of GLCs and vet potential candidates for top positions in GLCs as members of select committees in Parliament or state assemblies,” he said.

On Tuesday, the government launched a five-year National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP 2019-2023) to make Malaysia a corrupt-free nation by 2023.

Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre director-general Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed said the centre would take note of the possible conflict of interest from the involvement of politicians in the running of GLCs and look into reducing it.

However, The Star reported yesterday that activists and an academician welcomed the NACP but disagreed with the Pakatan Harapan government for backpedalling on its promise to ban politicians from heading GLCs.

Fann said to allow politicians to run GLCs was to perpetuate the culture of patronage that led to corruption and leaks in GLCs.