As of last week, it seemed pretty clear that Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) managing director Bashir Ahmad Abdul Aziz’s contract - which was slated to expire on June 7 - would not be renewed.

In contrast, by mid-May last year an announcement had already been made to Bursa Malaysia on Bashir’s ( right ) one-year extension, but until late evening yesterday, there had been nothing on his contract being renewed, or of a successor taking over.

“The fact that it was merely a one-year extension last year said it all... it didn’t look like they (Khazanah Nasional Bhd, MAHB’s 40 percent parent) were going to renew (his contract),” one observer commented.

The decision to extend Bashir’s contract was up to Khazanah Nasional, with the blessing of the Minister of Finance Inc which holds a golden share.

Bashir was not exactly the most popular person in Khazanah Nasional, having ruffled some feathers in his 10 years at MAHB.

Industry officials say that there was some amount of tension between Bashir and Khazanah Nasional managing director Azman Mokhtar, although there is little evidence of this.

Hence, while some were looking at Bashir taking the fall, others felt that the responsibility for KLIA2 should be collective and include AirAsia Bhd as well as the contractors, all of whom have to take some blame for the delay.

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