Economist Edmund Terence Gomez is puzzled that the Pakatan Harapan government has not formed any committees or undertaken extensive reviews of government-linked companies.

He said this is because Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had prior to the 14th general election, labelled GLCs as "monsters" that deviated from their original goal to help the poor.

"Why was there no review of what Mahathir himself called a monster?" he asked when presenting a report on GLCs at Universiti Malaya (UM) in Kuala Lumpur today.

Gomez pointed out that there was no clear change or policy on the government's approach to GLCs.

Instead, he said, the government is shifting control of a large number of GLCs from the Finance Ministry to the Economic Affairs Ministry, which, according to him, warranted an explanation.

"There may be a logic to what is going on, just tell us what it is," he added.

Read more: Prof: No problem with Daim's brother-in-law as PM's advisor

The UM lecturer also said the government should review whether GLCs should perform social or religious functions, saying such companies usually ran in the red, compared to the more successful commercial oriented GLCs.

The GLC report, Malaysia GLC Monitor 2018, presented by Gomez was co-authored with three UM Masters in Development Studies students - Fikri Fisal, Thirshalar Padmanabhan and Juwairiah Tajuddin - and published by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas).

The report, based on 2017 data that could be accessed publicly, showed the detailed web of connections between GLCs, political players, and corporate figures.

This included state GLCs in Selangor and Penang, where many Harapan leaders are board directors.

Gomez posited that these directorships, which came with allowances and fees, were meant to pad up the coffers of Harapan parties when they were still in the opposition.

However, he said if Harapan leaders still want to remain in state GLCs, they must declare how much they are earning from these companies.

"Just disclose the figures," he added.

Full report - Malaysia GLC Monitor 2018 – Government in Business: Diverse Forms of Intervention