KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah has refuted allegations that the transfer of government-linked companies (GLCs) under his ministry to the Prime Minister’s Department is to consolidate Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s grip on the corporate sector.

He said the transfer is part of the re-organisation of the government to improve public sector efficiency.

"There is no issue with having more power or less power, it is more about becoming more efficient, and at the end of the day the rakyat will get the best service that the government can give,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after launching the Malaysia Year of Healthcare Travel 2020 (MyHT2020) campaign here today.

He said in the re-organisation, some ministries were combined and some ministries that had been abolished were re-established.

Amiruddin also dismissed claims that the transfer of GLCs reduced his ministry’s power, stressing the cabinet works as a team under the prime minister.

"When Pakatan Harapan came to power, the prime minister had already put in place all the various cabinet ministers, and everyone already had the thing that they had to do.

"There is no issue with having more or less power, we are talking about working as a team, as the whole cabinet is working under the prime minister to deliver what is best for the rakyat,” he said.

A news portal yesterday reported Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) senior fellow Edmund Terence Gomez as saying the number of GLCs under the Finance Ministry had reduced significantly after many were moved under the Prime Minister’s Department in what he described as "covert” re-configurations.

Gomez also claimed that the economic affairs, rural development and entrepreneur development ministries are also led by ministers allied to Dr Mahathir and have been critical in ensuring the prime minister’s grip on the corporate sector. — Bernama