Shah Alam parliamentarian Khalid Samad said that a royal commission must be convened to investigate the federal government for what he claimed was treason.

The Shah Alam MP said the incidents which should be investigated included the issuance of a soccer betting license to a private company, the controversial sale of KTM land in Singapore and the surrender or two oil rich blocks to Brunei.

NONE "We need to look at who were involved, what were their arguments and reasoning and why they agreed to these decisions despite knowing that the decisions will affect the country negatively.

"They therefore must be charged for betraying the country," said Khalid ( right ) at a press conference at his office in Shah Alam today.

He argued that a lot of doubts have arisen over the three cases mentioned. According to him, the fear was that there were under the table dealings behind the government’s agreements to these controversial decisions.

"It seems that the decisions made may be to the benefit of the decision-makers (despite the loss to the nation).We need an independent investigation maybe even a royal commission," he said.

Khalid also raised questions if the purportedly one-sided deals were made by the government following the advice of outside interests or parties.

 

"Were these decision made on advice of (the Israeli-linked international public relations firm) Apco ?" he asked.

‘Parliament not consulted’

Khalid also lamented the fact that stakeholders like Parliament were not consulted by the federal government over the three lucrative deals.

In the KTM land deal for instance, he said no explanation was given by the government prior to the transaction.

NONE "It was just suddenly agreed to. The fact is that the land is not the absolute property of the government. It belongs to the people and the country. How can they surrender (the land) just like that without a comprehensive discussion?" queried Khalid.

While saying that he understood that government’s investment arm Khazanah Nasional Berhad would own 60 percent of the company that will administer the development of the land parcels in Singapore, Khalid alleged that the island republic will nevertheless benefit more from the deal.

Another interesting fact, pointed out by Khalid, was that several of the parcels of land being substituted for the KTM land were smack in the middle Singapore’s gambling enclave of Marina Bay.

"Maybe this shows that Malaysia and the Umno-BN government are committed to developing the culture of gambling," a deadpan Khalid said.