The memorandum protesting the proposed Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) deal should have been sent to Khazanah Nasional Berhad, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
He said the memorandum, which was delivered by Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal today, should not have been sent to his ministry in Putrajaya.
“Wan Fayhsal and his team are barking up the wrong tree and shouldn’t have sent the memorandum to the Transport Ministry.
“I have mentioned this many times that the decision (MAHB deal) doesn’t come under my ministry’s purview.
“He should have gone to Khazanah. It’s regrettable that an MP doesn’t understand this,” Loke told reporters after a working visit at Wisma Monorail, Kuala Lumpur today.
Earlier today, about 30 anti-Israel activists, including Wan Fayhsal, demonstrated against the planned acquisition of MAHB at the Transport Ministry in Putrajaya this morning.
Starting at 11am, the demonstration was to protest the purported acquisition by a consortium with Zionist links.
The protestors, called the Palestine Solidarity Secretariat (SSP), submitted a memorandum of protest to a ministry representative, demanding the government cancel the shareholding acquisition process.
“What we are raising is not a partisan political issue. The government today is attacking the opposition because it cannot answer all the allegations and criticisms made by the SSP.
“The government has forgotten that it is not only the opposition, but Malaysians are objecting to the sale of shares,” Wan Fayhsal was reported as saying.
Elaborating, Loke said his ministry is just serving as a regulator for MAHB.
He added that if Khazanah wanted to collaborate with other entities, it was beyond his ministry’s jurisdiction.
“Hence, I advise Wan Fayhsal to get his address right,” the DAP leader said cynically.
The proposed acquisition
On May 15, Khazanah announced that it was leading a consortium, Gateway Development Alliance (GDA), in a pre-conditional voluntary offer to acquire all the shares in MAHB not yet owned by the consortium at an offer price of RM11 per share.
The consortium’s shareholders also comprise a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) - through GIP Aurea Pte Ltd.
The pre-conditional offer stated that GIP Aurea would have a 30 percent effective economic interest in MAHB if the deal materialised.
This would make GIP’s effective stake in MAHB at 25 percent.
However, controversy erupted when it was found that BlackRock, a company deemed to have close ties with Israel, is in the midst of acquiring GIP.
Supporters of the Palestinian cause in the US have targeted BlackRock in its boycott campaign.
On May 17, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim dismissed the argument and called it baseless.
He also accused the opposition of trying to incite the public against the government by making the allegation.
For the record, Anwar is Khazanah’s chairperson, with Finance Minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan as one of its directors. - Mkini
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