KUALA LUMPUR: No politicians should be sitting in any government linked companies (GLCs) or statutory bodies said Prof Dr Edmund Terence Gomez (pic).

"Politicians should not be involved as directors in any of this institutions.

"The minute you put a politician there, they will want to use them (GLCs) to serve their own political interest or sometimes even their own economic vested interest," he told reporters after briefing the Council of Eminent Persons at Ilham Tower on Thursday (July 5).

He said there was a real danger of abuses as has been witnessed in the past.

However, the Prof of Political Economy at Universiti Malaya noted that there exception to this prohibition.

He said the Prime Minister, Cabinets ministers and state executive councillors could sit in GLCs in an oversight capacity.

Asked if he had suggested the abolishment of GLCs to the CEP, Dr Gomez merely said that more research had to be done first before any decision can be made.

"The Government should review GLCs as a whole and decide exactly what they want of them before moving forward," he added.

He acknowledged that there were some GLCs that were involved in social work beneficial to society.

At present, he noted that there was no proper study to determine the exact number of GLCs in the country or their roles.



