The former culture and information minister said allowing Wan Hamidi Hamid to helm the state agency could set a dangerous trend.

Rais has urged the current minister to reconsider the move.

"This should be reconsidered by my friend who is the present communications and multimedia minister," he told reporters here, referring to DAP leader Gobind Singh Deo.

“We should avoid this trend or else the agency will be politicised, its soul and thinking will be politicised."

Several media outlets recently reported Wan Hamidi as the man to replace current Bernama CEO Datuk Seri Zulkefli Salleh when he retires next month.

Wan Hamidi is now deputy director of DAP-linked think tank Research for Social Advancement (Refsa).

Rais argued that appointing the DAP man would go against past tradition of hiring non-partisan candidates to lead Bernama, which he described as neutral.

"Bernama should be left neutral," he said.

“In the past, we did not choose people with strong political involvement to lead,” he added.

Critics would likely disagree. Under BN rule, media agencies, state or not, were seen as an extension of the ruling coalition then; it kept the media obedient either through ownership or restrictive laws like the Printing Press and Publications Act.

Appointing Wan Hamidi would likely draw allegations that the newly elected Pakatan Harapan government is reneging on its promise to reform the media.

The bloc had previously said it would stop political appointments, something media freedom advocates have long campaigned for.