Right-wing Malay NGO Perkasa is fuming yet again, after another foreigner was appointed as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Malaysia Airlines.

"I am shocked that the new CEO replacing (outgoing) Christoph Mueller is also a Mat Salleh, even though many leaders have appealed that a local be appointed.

"After appointing a failed Mat Salleh, they are appointing yet another, which means the failure will continue.

"Looks like the government doesn't trust Malays or Malaysians," Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali told Malaysiakini.

He was responding to the announcement on the appointment of Peter Bellew as MAS CEO.

Bellew served as MAS chief operating officer from September last year, after being poached from RyanAir.

Ibrahim insisted that a local should be appointed CEO.

"If a local is appointed, he or she would have the spirit of nationalism; foreigners will not understand the feelings of locals," he said.

Ibrahim had previously attacked Mueller as well, even though he returned MAS to profitability.

Ibrahim had taken offence at Mueller's interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

In the interview, Mueller had said he found many workers doing nothing when he took over MAS.

“Many of the 20,000 employees who worked for the airline had nothing to do. In fact, when I walked through the hangars, people were sleeping. That's why I had to radically cut 6,000 jobs,” he was quoted as saying.

Mueller had resigned prior to the interview and is scheduled to leave MAS in September.

Ibrahim accused Mueller of implying that Malays were lazy, even though Mueller made no reference to race and demanded that he be sacked before his scheduled departure.

Mueller is set to go on leave tomorrow until his official departure in September, when Bellew takes over.