exclusive

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has asked the Chinese consortium which is bidding for MCA's stake in Nanyang Press to let the political party's investment arm, Huaren Holdings to retain a minority share.

According to consortium leader, Lim Guan Teik, the prime minister was told during their half-an-hour meeting in Putrajaya yesterday that the consortium cannot give any promises regarding the deal.

"If MCA insists on retaining a minority stake, I have to go back and discuss with other fellow investors," said Lim, who is also the national president of the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia and president of the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Chinese Chamber of Commerce

In an exclusive interview with malaysiakini today, Lim said the consortium is yet to make up its mind whether to accept MCA's Huaren as a minority shareholder.

Lim, a respected Chinese business leader who owns public listed Muda Holdings - a paper products company - said he sent a letter to Mahathir early this month asking for a meeting with him when the prime minister was visiting Japan.

"The prime minister later responded in a letter asking me to try my best to cool down the issue. And he repeated the same request during our meeting in Putrajaya yesterday," he said.

On Monday, five influential businessmen led by Lim announced a proposal to purchase Nanyang Press from MCA at RM5.60 per share for the 72.35 percent stake which the political party had acquired last month.

Call from PM's secretary

Lim said he received a call from the prime minister's secretary who told him that the premier had agreed to a meeting immediately after the consortium's announcement.

"The prime minister wanted to see how we were going to act as an arbitrator in this dispute. He expressed his hope and requested that the dispute be resolved as soon as possible," Lim said.

According to Lim, he explained to the prime minister that the controversy of the Nanyang Press takeover could have been resolved easily, but the factional struggle within MCA had complicated matters.

"Dr Mahathir stated that he did not want to interfere in MCA politics, and he is waiting to see the outcome of the party's extraordinary general meeting this Sunday," he said.

MCA has called for an EGM to discuss the party's May 31 takeover of Nanyang Press - publisher of Chinese dailies Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press - through its investment arm Huaren in a controversial RM230 million deal from tycoon Quek Leng Chan.

The deal sparked off strong objections from the Chinese community as well as rank-and-file party members who fear that the independence of the two major newspapers would be compromised. A boycott campaign was subsequently launched and has affected the sales of the papers.

Following the fallout, MCA president Ling Liong Sik offered to sell a strategic stake in Nanyang Press within a 10-day period to those who were interested. A faction of MCA leaders are opposing the Nanyang takeover deal as they claim it breached the party's constitution.

Best solution

Lim said that he told Mahathir that the best solution was for MCA to relinquish its stake because the takeover is opposed by key party leaders as well as rank-and-file members.

However, he also informed the premier that it is not advisable for various parties to be bidding for Nanyang Press because it would complicate the situation further.

"Mahathir agreed that such bids are undesirable," he added.

Lim also said the prime minister was extremely concerned with the Chinese community's unhappiness with MCA.

"I tried to reassure the prime minister that the proposal (of the Chinese consortium) has no motive other than our concern for the stability of the nation and providing a conducive environment to do business. As a businessman, we need a stable government to create a better condition for businesses," he said.

He added that Mahathir would be meeting the consortium again after MCA's June 24 EGM.