Use new laws to stop merger, govt urged

The DAP still maintains that the MAS-AirAsia deal is a 'merger', and must be called off.

KUCHING: The government must intervene and stop the merger between Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia because such a deal would not benefit the people and would only lead to a monopoly in the air transport industry, Sarawak DAP said.

Party secretary Chong Chieng Jen said “ultimately the consumers will lose out”.

“The government must stop the merger. We have the Anti-Trust Act or the Competition Act which will take effect on Jan 1, 2012.

“The Act will protect consumers against market abuse from cartel activities and monopolies or from unscrupulous trading practices of cartel and monopoly business.

“The government can use the Competition Act to prohibit the monopoly. As a shareholder in MAS, the government has every right to stop the merger, and yet the government is not stopping it,” he said.

Chong, who is Bandar Kuching MP, said the whole merger exercise “is wrong”.

According to him, if the Barisan Nasional allows this deal to go through, it simply means that it “is not serious in protecting the right of the consumers”.

Chong also urged the people not to believe claims by Transport Minister Kong Cho Ha that the merger may not result in an increase in airfares.

“Eventhough he has told us not to worry, his promise will amount to nothing. In the end, the airfares will be increased and we the consumers will be at the losing end.

‘Not a merger’

“I urge the government not to proceed with the merger in the interest of consumers,” said Chong, who is also Kota Sentosa asemblyman.

Asked whether Sarawak government should support his call as Sarawakians will suffer most, Chong said: “All governments that have the interest of the people at heart should oppose monopoly in the air transport industry.”

MAS and AirAsia recently announced the merger under the comprehensive collaboration framework to improve their competitiveness in their respective market segments.

But both AirAsia group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes and Khazanah Nasional Bhd managing director Azman Mokhtar have denied that the “collaboration” was a “merger”, saying the issue of monopoly did not arise.

“It is not a merger, and thought of monopoly is crazy,” Fernandes said.

Azman said that that new framework would emphasise on key strengths of the two airlines. Khazanah is the majority shareholder in MAS.