KUALA LUMPUR – Bersatu’s youth wing, led by its chief, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal, joined the Palestine Solidarity Secretariat movement in a protest outside the Transport Ministry against the privatisation of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) by a consortium that includes a global firm that supports Israel.
The demonstration, which began at 11am outside the ministry in Putrajaya, also brought together former pro-Pakatan Harapan figures such as ex Batu MP Chua Tian Chang and PKR activist Hishammuddin Rais.
Wan Fayhsal, who has been at loggerheads with Transport Minister Anthony Loke over the sale of MAHB shares in the privatisation exercise, said the government should realise that Malaysians of different stripes, and not just the opposition, are against the sale of MAHB equity to shareholders that include a pro-Israeli firm.
“It’s not a partisan issue. The government is attacking the opposition because it cannot answer the criticisms,” he told a press conference outside the ministry here today.
Wan Fayhsal, who is Machang MP, recently filed a notice of motion to the Dewan Rakyat secretary to refer Loke to Parliament’s rights and privileges committee for allegedly misleading the house over the sale of MAHB’s shares.
In March in the Dewan Rakyat, Loke refuted Wan Fayhsal’s claims that Khazanah and EPF were in business with an Israel-linked firm.
More recently, Loke ticked off Wan Fayhsal for continuing to spread misinformation about MAHB’s privatisation.
On May 15, the Gateway Development Alliance consortium, which includes Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) as one of its shareholders, announced a pre-conditional voluntary offer to acquire all shares in MAHB not already owned by the consortium at an offer price of RM11 per share.
Although Khazanah and EPF will still hold the bulk of MAHB shares at 70%, with GIP and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority together holding the remaining 30%, Wan Fayhsal has taken issue with GIP’s involvement because it is owned by the New York-based investment firm BlackRock Inc, which owns shares in weapons companies supplying arms to GIP.
Wan Fahysal said the consortium’s announcement showed that Loke had “lied” to the Dewan Rakyat in March. – May 23, 2024