KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad believes that Khazanah Nasional Bhd's decision to privatise Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is unlikely to make a difference.
In his blog chedet.cc, Dr Mahathir said on Tuesday he was "mystified" by the proposed privatisation of the ailing national carrier.
"If a company is fully acquired by a government company, is it privatisation or nationalisation?
"Yes, a company that is owned 100% 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 Nasional Bhd proposed a buyout of MAS at 27 sen a share, or RM1.4bil, in a bid to delist and overhaul the loss-making flag carrier.
Khazanah currently owns about 70% of MAS shares, of which meant it had almost absolute control over, 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 RM10bil in terms of capital injection," he said.
He questioned how having full control of MAS would change things.
"I may be wrong but I think Khazanah's 100% ownership of MAS will not be much different from its 70% ownership. We are going to see a lot of new people who will receive huge salaries, allowances and bonuses and not much else. That I believe is how Khazanah operates," Dr Mahathir said.
BY WONG WEI SHEN
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