Isa Samad should decline appointment as SPAD Chairman to end the fiasco of GLC musical chairs and start the era of appointment of the best man and not the PM’s closest crony to head GLCs

Tan Sri Isa Samad resigning as FELDA Group Ventures Holding Bhd (FGV ) Chairman but immediately becoming SPAD Chairman is only continuing the fiasco of GLC musical chairs and the farce of the GLC Transformation Programme.

It is another reason and example of the plummeting public confidence and credibility of the Najib premiership.

The appointment of Isa as Chairman of SPAD is not only the most unpopular appointment of a GLC Chairman, opposed by all sectors of society, embracing the civil service, the civil society and UMNO and BN rank-and-file, but had even been criticised by the first and former SPAD Chairman, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar.

The least Isa could do to end the charade of his appointment as SPAD Chairman is for him to decline the appointment as SPAD Chairman, pending inquiry into his stewardship of FELDA and FGV, which resulted in the loss of tens of billions of ringgit for the 100,000 Felda settlers.

If Isa is not fit to continue as FGV Chairman (nobody would be deceived by the charade of Isa’s “voluntary resignation”), how could Isa be fit and qualified to be SPAD Chairman and be responsible, directly or indirectly, for the RM55 billion East Coast Rail Line project, the KL-Singapore High-Speed Rail (RM60 billion), MRT Line (RM28 billion) and MRT Circle Line (RM20 billion) projects?

The country must say loud and clear “Enough is enough” to the fiasco of GLC musical chairs and start the era of appointment of the best man and not the Prime Minister’s closest crony to head GLCs.

The Cabinet meeting today should have questioned the Prime Minister’s appointment of Isa as SPAD Chairman and even vetoed it, but this would be too much to ask of probably the most unprincipled and useless “half-past six” batch of Ministers in the nation’s history which must bear responsibility for the greater infamy of Malaysia being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

Isa Samad should decline appointment as SPAD Chairman to end the fiasco of GLC musical chairs and start the era of appointment of the best man and not the Prime Minister’s cronies to head GLCs.

This would in fact be the greatest national service Isa could render the country.

I hope Isa would reflect on this proposal. At least he would be able to retrieve some respect in his long record of public service.