VIDEO | 3.14 min

Malay rights pressure groups have launched a broadside against Petronas chief executive officer Shamsul Azhar Abbas over his remarks in an interview with a business publication.

At a press conference today, Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM) oil and gas cluster chief Tengku Putra Tengku Ahmad said Shamsul forgot that Petronas was "built and grown by Malays".

He also slammed Shamsul for allegedly "embarassing the prime minister" and called for his resignation.

"PM Najib (Abdul Razak) is responsible for taking care of Petronas. If Petronas deviates from its main purpose then the goverment must censure it.

"When the government censures him (Shamsul), he does not want to listen because he thinks Petronas belongs to his father," he spat out in a KiniTV report.

Tengku Putra's emotional outburst was however cut short by Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali who urged him to calm down.

Instead of vitriol, the usually fiery Ibrahim (right) in a collected manner challenged Shamsul to instead face Malay NGOs on the matter in an open and "professional" dialogue.

He also challenged Shamsul to name the vested interests who tried to "pull back" Petronas from being professional.

"Who are these people (vested interests)? You cannot make just sweeping statements.

"It looks like the goverment is so bad. Who are these people? I don't think they are aunties and uncles from the kampungs. It must be important people," he said.

Petronas belongs to all

Shamsul had ruffled feathers when he blamed Umno leaders for interfering in Petronas in an interview with The Edge .

Stressing on the importance of meritocracy, the CEO had said he does not look at colour or creed.

"In 2010, we restructured the whole organisation, including the composition of the board... I brought in new capable people. The talk was that I had got rid of all the government servants, brought in the non-Malays, opened up Petronas, which belongs to the Malays, to the non-Malays.

"Are we not interested in competence. This is the predicament that I am facing at this point in time.

"There is a need for us to shape ourselves into a more professional organisation, but at the same time, I am being pulled back by politics, by interested parties, by parties with vested interests, by agendas that are outdated," he added.

However, the Petronas chief stated that Najib ( above ) did not meddle in the national oil giant’s affairs.

The duo's sentiments were echoed in an article on pro-Umno blog MyKMU, who said Shamsul is an example of why Malays should not rise to the top.

"They would forget the ground beneath their feet and consider themselves great even when the position was secured on the goodwill of the ruling government," he added.

In its attack on Shamsul in the article titled, 'CEO Petronas patut letak jawatan dan buat syarikat sendiri' (Petronas CEO should resign and open his own firm), MyKMU asked if he has forgotten that Petronas belongs to the government?

"So if the government does not interfere, especially in matters of policy, in a company that it owns, then who else is to interfere?” read the article.

'If not for Umno, he would be plantin g potatoes '

Like it or not, the article stated, even Shamsul's appointment was due to political intervention.

"If not for Umno and BN ruling, surely there would be more Chinese, Indians or foreigners who are more qualified than Shamsul to fill the post.

"Should the appointment be based on merit, the government should have hired former CEOs of more successful international petroleum companies. But this did not happen because Umno gives priority to Malays and bumiputera.

"And now Shamsul wants to accuse Umno of all sorts of things," it added.

Telling him not to be too proud of his position, the article claimed that if not for Umno, Shamsul would be planting potatoes in his backyard.

The article also lambasted the CEO for being "insolent" when he said that the Malays depended on handouts.

In the interview published on June 23, The Edge had posed a series of questions to Shamsul, among others regarding rumours of his resignation.

He replied: "It's so difficult to do an honest day’s job... It’s not just people outside (who are making things difficult but) also people in the government - the bureaucrats.  Bureaucratic interference makes things difficult."

To another question, he said: "So far as my boss (Najib) is concerned, there's not much interference, but from those around him, there is. Can you imagine the problems I am facing?"

Responding to another query, he had said: "I am a Malay too. I am proud to be one... You think I don't want to help my own people. Of course, I want to help them, but in the proper way, not through handouts and spoonfeeding."

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