Umno MPs call Azman Mokhtar, Tony Fernandes cheats in MAS-AirAsia share swap
(The Malaysian Insider) – Umno lawmakers accused Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar and Tan Sri Tony Fernandes today of cheating the public in the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia share swap.
Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin called on Khazanah chief executive Azman to be investigated by graftbusters after the state investment agency exchanged 20.5 per cent of the national carrier for a 10 per cent stake in Asia’s top-performing budget airline.
“The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) must call Tan Sri Azman … all of them … if there is any misappropriation, stuff them into jail,” the Barisan Nasional (BN) backbenchers deputy chief told Parliament.
“How can Khazanah be fooled? Azman Mokhtar, how can he be so stupid, to be ‘tuned’ by Tony Fernandes. If I was in such a position, I would resign rather than troubling others.
“Maybe they are not stupid. Maybe they get huge profits by squeezing and grabbing money from the public,” he said, referring to the AirAsia CEO’s company Tune Air which now owns a fifth of MAS.
Sri Gading MP Mohamad Aziz also accused AirAsia of “clearly cheating the public and now trying to cheat MAS.”
“If this kind of man (Fernandes) can control us, God forgive us,” he said while debating Budget 2012.
Bung Mokhtar also said the government should “not be scared of Fernandes.”
“Whatever he wants, we give. He wants to overcharge for excess baggage and suck the blood of poor villagers.
“Now I hear he has a plan in the future to take over all domestic flights and MAS will only have international flights. If we give this to him, the country will be in ruins. It will be the end of the world for us,” he said.
Bung said if the government could not provide a satisfactory answer, it meant that “government officials colluded with AirAsia and has vested interests.”
The MAS-AirAsia swap has come under fire from both sides of the political divide as well as employees of MAS who believe the deal will affect their careers.
The finance ministry said earlier this month that the deal is being investigated by Bursa Malaysia and the Securities Commission for insider trading despite the swap being agreed on three months ago.
