Zahid: Tok Mat's remark on MAHB takeover doesn't represent Umno

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party is on the same page as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in the matter concerning the sale of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) shares to a company that will soon be owned by Blackrock.

According to Zahid (above), his deputy Mohamad Hasan’s contrasting take on the matter is the latter’s personal opinion and does not represent Umno.

“The opinion voiced out by Tok Mat (Mohamad) is his personal opinion, and I met with him last night.

“He said the statement was his own take on the matter, and does not represent Umno’s official stance,” Berita Harian quoted Zahid, who is also deputy prime minister, as saying.

Zahid added that the issue had been brought to the cabinet several times, but was not thoroughly discussed.

Objections raised

Yesterday, Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said Umno ministers voiced their objections to the planned takeover deal.

However, the Umno deputy president indicated that whether or not the deal moves forward will not be a collective cabinet decision, as Khazanah Nasional is under the Finance Ministry, which is led by Anwar.

Khazanah is leading a consortium that includes the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) to take over MAHB shares not already owned by Khazanah or the EPF.

The deal raised concerns locally as Blackrock is in the midst of taking over GIP. Blackrock is a US firm with close ties to Israel and invests heavily in weapons manufacturers that provide arms to the Zionist regime.

GIP said on Friday that Blackrock will not be involved with MAHB, as the GIP management would still be fully in charge of the company.

That same day, Anwar said that talks with GIP had been initiated before Blackrock bought out the former.

Further, the premier added that Blackrock already has interests in many companies in the country.

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