Raja Shahreen Raja Othman, who is currently the CEO of Selangor
PETALING JAYA: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng must act immediately to minimise repercussions in the wake of the Khazanah Nasional Bhd board mass resignation and protect the strategic investment fund from cronyism, said Wanita MCA.
In a statement on Friday (July 27), its vice-chairman Datuk Ong Chong Swen said she was “taken aback” with Lim’s response towards the mass resignation, which was “simply to step back and let the Prime Minister decide the direction of Khazanah Nasional”.
She cautioned that the sovereign investment fund should not turn into what Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said earlier, that it is “only to empower the bumiputra agenda”.
Ong queried if this means that Lim agrees to let the strategic investment fund, which holds assets worth RM115.6bil, to benefit only a specific group of people
On July 6, Dr Mahathir said that Khazanah had deviated from its original objectives of helping the bumiputras, and he wants the investment fund back on its track.
“We are not denying the government bumiputra agenda, but Khazanah Nasional is a sovereign national fund - bringing back the 1990s era of cronyism and nepotism should not exist at this time,” said Ong.
She urged Lim to take steps to prevent history from repeating itself, stating that the Finance Minister must chart the future fiscal well-being of Malaysia and not let his ministry work as a subsidiary of the Prime Minister's Office.
“Khazanah, in recent years, had seen its performance surging ahead, benefiting Malaysia’s economy in many ways. Proper handling is needed to lessen the negative reverberations of the en bloc resignation of the board.
“We hope that Khazanah Nasional can continue being a sovereign fund of the nation and the people, and unremittingly contribute to our economy,” Lim added.
According to reports, the nine board members of Khazanah Nasional gave their letters offering to resign to Putrajaya on Thursday (July 26), in a stunning move that caught top government officials by surprise.
This came about after the new government led by Dr Mahathir repeatedly criticised Khazanah Nasional, stating that it had deviated from its original objectives and that the executives were overpaid.
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