KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says he is “a bit mystified” by the proposed privatisation of Malaysia Airlines (MAS).
He believes that Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s decision to privatise the ailing carrier is unlikely to make a difference.
“If a company is fully acquired by a government-linked company, is it privatisation or nationalisation?” Dr Mahathir wrote in his blog chedet.cc yesterday.
“Yes, a company that is owned 100 per cent by one entity is not a public company. It is a private company. But if that person or entity is the government, can it be said to be private?” he questioned.
Last Friday, state-owned Khazanah proposed a RM1.4 billion buyout of MAS at 27 sen a share in a bid to delist and overhaul the national carrier.
Khazanah now owns about 69.4 per cent of MAS this means “it has almost absolute control over the airline”, Dr Mahathir said.
“So Khazanah has been in full control of MAS all this time. And all this time, MAS has been bleeding profusely. In 10 years, it has lost RM10 billion in terms of capital injection,” he said.
“I may be wrong but I think Khazanah’s 100 per cent ownership of MAS will not be much different from its 70 per cent ownership,” he said.
Dr Mahathir also suggested that Khazanah may have difficulty renegotiating contracts that are unfavourable to MAS with politically-connected suppliers.
He added that exercise will likely result in a new regime at MAS receiving huge salaries, allowances and bonuses, and not much else.