Rafizi moots law to regulate govt bailouts

 

PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli has urged MPs from his party to draft a law to regulate corporate bailouts using public funds.

In a statement today, he said this law should stipulate that any such bailout must be approved by Parliament by means of an act.

"For example, if the 'bailout' involves 'Syarikat Najib', hence a bill called 'Public Funds to Acquire Syarikat Najib' needs to be tabled and passed," he said.

Any subsequent legislation for the bailout, said Rafizi (above), can be used to impose conditions such as blocking pay raises for the top executives or dividend payments for a certain time.

This law is necessary to curb crony capitalism which has plagued various administrations, he said.

Rafizi's suggestion was his latest salvo in a series of exchanges with former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak who has been lobbying the government to bail out troubled Sapura Energy Bhd.

Najib argued that if the government refuses to do so, then Pemodalan Nasional Bhd's RM4 billion investment in the company in 2019 cannot be recovered.

Rafizi has repeatedly criticised Najib for proposing the Sapura Energy bailout. Both are set to appear at a public debate on the matter soon.

Meanwhile, Rafizi said bailouts are generally bad for the country because it incentivises the wrong behaviour in corporations.

"It is the same as privatising profits while nationalising losses. Selective use of public funds (for bailouts) will only benefit the few when it can be used for the masses," he said. - Mkini