In GE13 run-up, PKR targets Syed Mokhtar’s pervasive economic influence

KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 – Tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s wide-ranging business interests, from sugar to a composites firm, has been a major topic in Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) election campaign, signifying who and what are the opposition bloc’s targets if it wins Election 2013.

In almost every ceramah given by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim these past months, the PKR de facto leader has detailed how pervasive is Syed Mokhtar’s influence and its effects on the economy.

And judging by the enthusiastic response from the largely Malay audience at Anwar’s ceramahs and other events on the subject by PAS and DAP leaders, there is not much love for this tycoon (picture).

PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli noted that the party does not only talk about Syed Mokhtar, saying that other individuals such as Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan, and those who controlled the YTL and Genting group has been mentioned as well.

“Because one of the great challenges... is to counter Umno’s allegation that PKR and PR is trying to weaken the Malays’ position” economically with a needs-based approach, Rafizi told The Malaysian Insider.

“The focus on Syed Mokhtar is changing the mindset and countering Umno’s propaganda ...” he later said.

Rafizi said the tycoon was only brought up in PKR’s efforts to explain the need to shift away from the government’s current economic policy of hitting a target of 30 per cent Bumiputera equity.

He said the government could achieve its target by helping out a few Malays economically, but said that the majority of the Malay community here would not benefit from the policy.

Rafizi said PKR had over the last three years explained to Malays that a better alternative would be the improvement of the minimum household income for everyone, noting that most of the country’s poor are from the Malay community.

“We don’t want one or two Malay billionaires, we want to see everyone having a good life and good income,” Rafizi said, in explaining PR’s electoral pledge to improve the lot of Malaysians irrespective of race.

When asked about measures that PR would take if it steps into power, Rafizi said there would be a need to introduce stronger anti-monopoly and anti-competition laws.

“When this is done, a lot of companies owned by cronies... they would have to be subject to these laws and would weaken their grip on our economy,” he said.

Malaysia currently has the Competition Act 2010, a law which came into effect in January 1, 2012 and is enforced by the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC).

Rafizi also said there would be a public commission to scrutinise government contracts and independently determine if the contract terms are in the best interests of the people.

Early this month, Rafizi claimed that the sale of lucrative aerospace firm CTRM Sdn Bhd to a unit of Syed Mokhtar’s DRB-Hicom was not done through open tender, alleging that the attempt to privatise the government-linked company would marginalise its Bumiputera workforce.

CTRM is a subsidiary of Ministry of Finance (MOF) Incorporated and had shown solid performance with contracts worth RM8.26 billion from 2012 to 2017.

The Edge Financial daily recently reported that the logistics tycoon will compete for a new multi-billion ringgit high-speed rail link, a train project connecting Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Syed Mokhtar already owns a few ports via MMC Corp Bhd, including the Port of Tanjung Pelepas and Johor Port, and was reportedly working on a takeover of national railway KTM.

MMC Corp is currently in a joint-venture with Gamuda Bhd for the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), the largest rail project in the Klang Valley, due to be ready in 2017. The two companies are also working together on a 329km electrified double-tracking rail project connecting Perak and Perlis that is expected to be completed this year.

Syed Mokhtar’s companies have been accused of controlling the rice and sugar trade in Malaysia, and his business interests include Malakoff Corp Bhd, the country’s largest independent power producer.