Anwar slams 'secret' MAS-AirAsia, fears deal will marginalize employees

The MAS-Air Asia share swap announced yesterday raises serious concerns over the dominance of Air Asia over MAS and effectively reducing competition between the two. This may lead to a virtual monopoly of the domestic airline industry by in the long run and gives rise to risks and concerns associated with monopolies, more so because of the involvement of cronies and political power brokers.

The swap accompanied by effective participation of Tony Fernandes and his nominees in the board of MAS raises the likelihood of a conflict of interest notwithstanding his purported ‘non-executive’ position. This is clearly a violation of corporate governance rules and should not be condoned.

More importantly, the deal raises the question as to what is the fate of the GLC Transformation Programmes that had been launched by the Prime Minister Najib Razak with much fanfare and wastage of millions of the rakyat’s money. And is the government specifically admitting that the so-called successful turnaround of MAS was a mere charade? The Prime Minister must be held accountable for misleading the rakyat on this.

This deal also raises fundamental issues of transparency because of the secrecy in which it was shrouded. In this regard, the Securities Commission must investigate the possibility of irregularities including insider trading of the shares of both entities.

Above all, I am very concerned that this deal benefits the interests of the minority at the expense of the majority, that is, the employees of MAS who have served our national carrier with selfless dedication and loyalty in spite of having been given such a raw deal and deprived of bonuses for years.

- Anwar Ibrahim is the Opposition Leader and MP for Permatang Pauh