THE winds of change in corporate Malaysia have yet to settle since the change in government earlier this year, as speculation over leadership shuffling at government-linked companies (GLCs) continues to swirl, with the latest involving a potential change at the helm of Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

There is talk that Tenaga president and CEO Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan will be leaving the national utility giant.

It is said that Megat Jalaluddin Hassan, currently Tenaga’s chief retail officer, is slated to take over the top post following Amir Hamzah’s departure.

However, Tenaga’s corporate communications unit, when asked, says it does not comment on speculation.

Amir Hamzah, who was previously the chairman of Main Market-listed UEM Edgenta Bhd, took over on April 2, 2019, from his predecessor Datuk Seri Azman Mohd, who helmed the group for over six years.

He was brought into Tenaga during the time of Pakatan Harapan — amid the then government’s push for the liberalisation of Malaysia’s power industry — and tasked with the transformation of one of the country’s oldest GLCs to further improve transparency and efficiency.

He had set the foundation for the group’s transformation, in anticipation of the changing landscape.

Despite the Perikatan Nasional government taking over since, Amir Hamzah told The Edge in September that the transformation plan was still on track.

There was much anticipation about the separation of Tenaga’s power generation and retail businesses, which saw its power generation businesses parked under a wholly-owned subsidiary (GenCo) with its own board and balance sheet.

Meanwhile, the group will be parking its retail operations under RetailCo, as Amir Hamzah deemed it important for the group to have better control and focus on its generation and retail businesses.

The separation of the businesses is part of the recommendations made by the government through the Malaysian Electricity Supply Industry 2.0 (MESI 2.0) initiative launched in September 2018.

The initiative seeks to liberalise the domestic power industry, although the current Perikatan Nasional government is looking at the pace of reform, Amir Hamzah had said previously.

He gave his word that, no matter how MESI turns out, Tenaga would be prepared for any outcome.

He also oversaw Tenaga’s pivot towards renewable energy (RE), with the group aiming for 20% of the country’s power generation capacity to come from renewable sources by 2025.

Under his leadership, the group aimed to have 1,700mw of generation under its renewable portfolio both internationally and domestically, with acquisition plans in place to grow the renewable side of the business.

The rumours of Amir Hamzah’s departure is the latest in talk of changes at the helm of several GLCs.

Last week, The Edge reported that ex-Boustead Holdings Bhd managing director Datuk Seri Amrin Awaluddin could be helming UEM Sunrise Bhd, following the resignation of Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib in October.

Prior to that, there was talk of Amrin taking over the CEO’s post at Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT), which had been left vacant since Sept 30, following the resignation of Nik Amlizan Mohamed, who was subsequently appointed CEO of Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) last month.

The LTAT CEO’s post remained vacant at the time of writing.

On the other hand, the vacancy at Boustead was filled by former Telekom Malaysia Bhd managing director and CEO Datuk Seri Mohammed Shazalli Ramly.

Earlier in the year, Permodalan Nasional Bhd saw Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn appointed as its president and group CEO, after Jalil Rasheed stepped down from the post. Meanwhile, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) saw the departure of CEO Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, who was subsequently appointed chairman of DRB-Hicom Bhd. Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz took over the leadership at the national oil corporation.