PETALING JAYA, March 4 — Former Bank Rakyat Chairman Tan Sri Sabbaruddin Chik today questioned the wisdom behind leaving his past position vacant for nearly a year, calling it a “strange” situation that needs to be addressed at the bank’s annual general meeting this May.

He claimed the bank is not following procedure by appointing a representative from the federal Treasury as acting chairman, as the post can only be filled by an independent party.

“The Treasury representative cannot be the chairman because he is not independent, but he is chairing board meetings and acting as chairman,” Sabbaruddin told a news conference after the launch of his book on his allegedly unceremonious removal as the bank’s chairman.

Sabbaruddin, a former minister in Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration, stressed that never in Bank Rakyat’s history has there been a time when it had no chairman over such an extended period.

He acknowledged that it is the prerogative of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Hasan Malek to approve the appointment of the bank’s chairman, but questioned why his tenure was not renewed when there was no viable replacement.

Sabbaruddin claimed Hasan chose not to renew his tenure as Bank Rakyat chairman after the former refused to agree to an alleged decision by the minister to allow controversial businessman Deepak Jaikishan to repay millions of ringgit in debt owed to the bank using backdated cheques.

“No bank in the world would agree to anyone paying off their debts using backdated cheques, but this case is special. It means the minister made a decision, and even if it is wrong, we must accept.

“If nobody takes action, don’t forget... the money that Bank Rakyat holds belongs to nearly 980,000 members and I’m also a member. Let’s hope the members will ask for clarification at the AGM this May,” he said.

It was previously reported that Sabbaruddin’s tenure as Bank Rakyat chairman and that of two other members of the bank’s board of directors were not extended after they turned down the proposed repayment method.

The agreement purportedly would have allowed Deepak to pay off a RM32 million loan via monthly instalments of RM270,000 for the next 10 years, effective January 2014.

The deal also included the suspension of all legal action against Deepak and the companies related to him, in the event of a failure to pay off the balance from the term loan of RM32 million.