PKR’s Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar today urged the government to commission a forensic audit to determine why national carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS) failed to perform financially in spite of several fund injections in the past.

She said that such an audit is important to determine how and why MAS went wrong before the government, through its investment arm Khazanah, pumps in another RM6 billion into the carrier as part of a massive restructuring programme.

“I also demand that the government table MAS’ annual financial reports from 2008 until now to the Parliament so that there are no lingering questions regarding MAS’ accounting,” said the PKR vice-president in a statement today.

Nurul Izzah ( left ) warned that MAS’ move to lay off 6,000 staff members as part of the restructuring process gives a perception that the airline does not “give priority to the welfare of the workers”.

She said that the more pertinent question that has not been answered is whether the MAS management had failed to manage the airline well.

“The MAS management must be made responsible for what is happening to the staff who will be affected by MAS’s failures,” she said.

She also said that the performance of every individual on the board of directors should also be audited as they “appeared to have failed to ensure the success of the national airline”.

The restructuring exercise comes hot in the heels of twin air tragedies affecting the airlines this year, and also the carrier’s continuously worsening financial situation.