[Malaysia] APs aside, what about bumi shares?

APs aside, what about bumi shares?
Arfa'eza A Aziz, Malaysiakini, Jul 28, 05

An opposition leader has joined in to flay embattled minister Rafidah Aziz, saying she must not only be questioned over the Approved Permits (AP) scandal but also for the allotment of bumiputera shares.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Noor said the AP issue is not her first scandal since she took over the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).

He noted that the veteran politician had also been investigated by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) for allegedly allocating five million bumiputera shares to her son-in-law, Fazrin Azwar.

When pointed out that investigations into the matter have been closed, Ezam said: "They may say she is cleared from any wrongdoing but the investigations papers showed evidence that she had instructed for her son-in-law to be given shares."

"I would also stress here that to date no one has refuted the validity of the documents for which I had spent two years in jail," he added.

Ezam was charged and convicted under the Official Secrets Act for leaking to the media classified documents pertaining to the probe.

His conviction was later quashed by the Shah Alam High Court upon appeal.

Keng Yaik’s company

Meanwhile, Ezam also alleged that apart from the ACA probe, there were allegations by former MITI official Rejab Lebai Man - in his defence against a criminal breach of trust charge - how Rafidah had instructed him to give a company controlled by Gerakan president Dr Lim Keng Yaik bumiputera allocated shares.

"Have there been investigations on such serious allegations? I don’t think so. If they are really sincere and serious in combatting corruption, a thorough investigation on abuse of power within MITI must start now," he said.

The bumiputera shares allocation scheme, launched in 1971, aims to transfer 30 percent of Malaysia's corporate wealth to the Malays, to help them catch up with the richer ethnic Chinese businessmen who dominate the economy.

Ezam said an investigation into MITI would also prove the sincerity of the government and Umno in helping the Malays.

"Umno is talking about a new agenda to help the Malays. They touch on semangat Melayu (spirit of the Malays), claiming that policies lacked this spirit, which is absolute rubbish. The problem is not the spirit of the Malays but the spirit of honesty or the lack of it.

"What happened to the APs and shares allocation is not because the policies are not good but it is the implementation of the policies which had been abused by the authorities," he added.

He said any agenda - new or old - would be useless as long as the government refuses to be more transparent in policy implementation and practice good governance.

Backward step

In a statement yesterday, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng also touched on Umno Youth’s new agenda.

He said the movement's call to revive the New Economic Policy (NEP) is a step backward, divisive and will breed corruption and malpractice.

"Malaysians - both non-Malays and poor Malays - will not be convinced that the NEP has fulfilled its function of wealth creation and equitable wealth distribution," he added.

He said DAP regretted that Umno had excluded the non-Malays from such an important policy.

"Umno’s refusal to allow all Malaysians to debate and express their view is undemocratic and unconstitutional and is tantamount to refusing to respect that non-Malays are also Malaysian citizens," he added.