KUALA LUMPUR (March 18): Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) is set to see a new line-up of key personnel under the Perikatan Nasional administration, following the dismissal of its chairman and council members that took effect yesterday. 

Mara is a statutory body under the purview of the Rural Development Ministry, whose present minister is Abdul Latiff Ahmad. He replaced Datuk Seri Rina Harun, who is now the Women and Family Minister. Both are Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia members of parliament.

According to news reports, Abdul Latiff had agreed to terminate the services of the eight political appointees, including Mara chairman Hasnita Hashim.

The other council members were: Datuk Jamelah Jamaluddin, Tengku Tan Sri Dr Mahaleel Tengku Ariff, Dr Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, Datuk Wira Dr Ameer Ali Mydin, Datuk Syed Tamim Ansari Syed Mohamed, Zakri Mohd Khir and Ahmad Baslan Che Kassim.

When contacted, Nungsari and Zakri confirmed the matter and said they received their dismissal letter earlier today. The letter was dated March 17.

“The termination of services, effective yesterday, affected all Mara Council members,” Nungsari told theedgemarkets.com.

“This is normal when there’s a change of government and I certainly don’t take it personally. But the manner in which it was done could have been better. They could have discussed it with us first. After all, we’re all adults,” he said.

The Malaysian Insight, citing documents it sighted, reported that the decision was made at a Cabinet meeting on March 11.

The instruction was given to Mara director-general Datuk Azhar Abdul Manaf, as well as several other agencies under the Rural Development Ministry, it was quoted as saying.

Azhar did not immediately respond to theedgemarkets.com's request for comments.

Mara corporate communications department director Dr Ahmad Sabri Kassim, meanwhile, said the agency has not received any official notice on the matter and is awaiting confirmation from the ministry’s office.

“We will issue a press release on the matter once we have the official word from the ministry’s office, possibly later today,” he told theedgemarkets.com.

It is understood that Hasnita and the other seven Mara council members were appointed after being evaluated and interviewed by the now-defunct Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) when Pakatan Harapan took over the government after the last general election in May, 2018.

The CEP was headed by former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, who is often associated with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Following her appointment as chairman, Hasnita had been vocal about her reported plans to axe Mara’s investment arm, Mara Corp, saying the agency’s focus has always been on education and entrepreneur development.

This put her at odds with Mara Corp chairman Akhramsyah Muammar Ubaidah Sanusi, who said the company had been mandated to take over all commercial assets under Mara to protect the government from commercial risks.

Launched in 2016 during Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration, Mara Corp’s main objective is to manage and develop the Bumiputera economic powerhouse’s commercial assets.

It creates and develops investments in key sectors to deliver scalable and sustainable financial returns that shape industries and deliver socio-economic outcomes, according to its website.

Its portfolio includes education, financial services, property, aerospace, retail and transportation.

However, in a news report in January, Hasnita said Mara was never meant to invest in businesses and was never allocated funds by the government to do so.

“It (Mara) has used funds it collected from student and business loans to invest in businesses, something it never had the competency to do,” she was quoted as saying.

It was also reported that Malay interest groups such as the Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM) and the Malay Chamber of Commerce had voiced out against any plans to close down Mara Corp.