KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir should have resigned as Opcom Holdings Bhd (Opcom)’s president as soon as he was appointed as the Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister on April 10, 2008 to avoid any conflict of interest.
Instead, the deputy president of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia only resigned his post on August 2009, a year after he was in the government, says Malaysian Council of Former Elected Representatives (Mubarak) president, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman.
Abdul Aziz said Mukhriz should have resigned since his company had a business relationship with the International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI).
He said it was possible that mistakes had occurred during business deals between Opcom and the government when Mukhriz was holding the deputy minister post.
“It could be worse if he did not declare the interest in the contract. Thorough checks need to be done to see if there were any business deals which existed between the company and Mukhriz during his tenure in the government,” he said.
Mukhriz, who is the founder of Opcom, has disposed of 43,600 shares and 605,000 shares in the company on Jan 2 and Jan 3, 2018 respectively.
In a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the fibre optic company said Mukhriz's direct interests in the company currently stood at 40.61 million shares, equivalent to 25.18 per cent, after the disposal.
Opcom began operating in November 1994.
Mukhriz was appointed Kedah Menteri Besar from May 6, 2013 until February 3, 2016. Prior to that, he was MITI’s deputy minister from 2008 until 2013.
Meanwhile, Abdul Aziz said that it is the practice in Barisan Nasional for any individual who holds a post in any business to declare the assets and report it to the leadership.
He said such individuals were also not allowed to have any business deals during their tenure in the government and the cabinet.