Najib points out how Mahathir’s sons benefited under M-government
Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak took up Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s challenge today and listed instances where Mahathir’s son and other cronies supposedly received sweetheart deals from the government while Mahathir was in office as prime minister.
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Whole henhouses go to cronies on your watch – Najib to Dr M
Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak took up Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s challenge today and listed instances where Mahathir’s son and other cronies supposedly received sweetheart deals from the government while Mahathir was in office as prime minister.
Among others, he took aim at the business dealings of Mahathir’s sons, Mirzan and Mokhzani, and business tycoon Vincent Tan.
Furthering the chicken-themed tit-for-tat between the two former premiers, Najib remarked: “Don’t talk about stealing or returning chickens. Under you, the entire henhouse was handed to the cronies to be slaughtered.”
He said that contrary to Mahathir’s claims that his children never conducted business in Malaysia during his premiership until he had resigned in 2003, his second-born child Mirzan had built up Konsortium Perkapalan in the 1990s.
The firm eventually needed a US$220 million bailout from the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation (MISC) when the 1998 financial crisis hit. MISC’s largest shareholder is Petronas.
“Wasn’t MISC and Petronas reporting to you as prime minister at that time?” Najib queried.
In 1997, meanwhile, Najib said Mahathir’s fourth offspring Mokhzani bought a controlling stake in Hospital Pantai Group from Tan.
Najib claimed the group later won Foreign Workers’ Medical Examination Monitoring Agency (Fomena) concessions as well as contacts to supply government hospitals.
He said Mokhzani’s Kencana Group also won a license to fabricate offshore structures from Petronas in 2002.
In 2003, Najib said Mahathir’s sixth child Mukhriz’s company Opcom was given a RM214 million contract by Telekom Malaysia.
Terima kasih ADUN BN kerana memihak kerajaan – Mukhriz – Air Times …
He said the contract was a direct award without tender due to an instruction from the Finance Ministry (MOF) and was instrumental to Opcom’s successful listing later that year.
For the record, Mahathir had stepped down from his first premiership on Oct 31, 2003, but the MOF instruction to award the contract was dated Oct 7. Mahathir was also finance minister at the time.
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