KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — The Najib administration must reveal the list of Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders appointed to key posts in government-linked companies (GLCs), according to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders, alleging that the plum jobs were rewards for loyalty.

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (picture) said Putrajaya needed to explain why former ministers, who were dropped from Election 2013 due to alleged poor performance, were now given posts with lucrative salaries in GLCs.

“We want to know from the prime minister, is there pressure and how many of them are appointed actually,” the PKR de facto leader told reporters in his Parliament office here.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was reported likely to announce the appointments of senior BN leaders as chairman and board members of GLCs and government agencies for their loyalty.

Last week Putrajaya announced the appointment of former ministers Tan Sri Rais Yatim and Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen as the president of the International Islamic University Malaysia and chairman of Tourism Malaysia.

Prior to that, BN veteran and former finance minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yackop was made deputy chairman of the government’s investment arm Khazanah Bhd.

Former Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Ghani Othman – who lost to DAP’s Lim Kit Siang in the Gelang Patah parliamentary battle last May 5 – was  recently made chairman of Sime Darby, one of the largest listed plantation companies in the world.

Former Federal Territories Minister Raja Nongchik, former Deputy Finance Minister Awang Adek and veteran Umno politicians Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed and Datuk Azeez Rahim are among other names likely to be given plum roles in government-linked firms.

“There are too many of them being appointed and they are being handsomely paid... how many millions are being paid to these BN leaders,” Anwar said.

The opposition leader noted that some of those appointed, like Ng, were “unqualified” since they had been repeatedly accused of poor performance in the past.

“If they are unqualified then they shouldn’t be appointed lah,” he said.

Several other opposition lawmakers have also raised the issue in Parliament for the past two weeks.

Previous prime ministers were wary of placing too many politicians on the board of GLCs following concerns that their inclusion could result in a clash of cultures and priorities and ultimately lead to poor performance of those companies.

But observers note that Najib may be forced to make concessions to avoid upsetting these leaders and ruin his chances in the Umno polls later this year.