The Bersatu Youth chief said the sale is scheduled to take place despite transport minister Loke Siew Fook’s initial denial, and questioned if the government is being pressured to sell MAHB shares following the recent visit of a top US Treasury representative to Kuala Lumpur.
“We call on the government to sever connections with any company or its affiliates linked to Israel.
“In this instance, we urge the government to halt the sale of MAHB shares to a consortium that includes New York-based investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), an entity which is owned by BlackRock, a company that funds genocide against Palestinians,” he said in a statement today.
Wan Fayhsal, who is also the chairman of PN’s foreign affairs committee, joins the chorus of civil society organisations that have already urged the government to reconsider its decision to allow a company with alleged links to Israel to own shares in MAHB.
In a statement, the 21 organisations said they are against BlackRock’s participation, through its fully owned subsidiary GIP, in a consortium with Khazanah Nasional Bhd and the EPF that will acquire all the shares in MAHB.
They said that although GIP and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will own only 30% of the consortium, it nevertheless allows BlackRock entry into the management and ownership of 39 airports in Malaysia.
“These are strategic assets to the country. No ownership should be handed over to a foreign entity, much less one with a bloody reputation like BlackRock,” the groups had said.
Wan Fayhsal’s statement follows the trip by US Treasury department’s top sanctions official Brian Nelson to Malaysia earlier this month, during which he defended the sanctions imposed on four Malaysian-based companies accused of helping Iran’s production of drones in December last year.
Wan Fayhsal hit out at Nelson’s comments on US classification of Hamas as a terrorist group, saying that PN maintains that Hamas is a lawful political entity as their leaders were voted in by the majority of Palestinians in the last Palestinian legislative election held in 2006.
“It is imperative for the US to cultivate a stance of respectful engagement when it comes to other nations’ manner of managing their own political and economic interests.
“We assert our inherent right to engage in trade with any nation as we deem fit. Upholding this freedom ensures our ability to pursue mutually beneficial partnerships and economic opportunities that best serve our interests and national prosperity,” he said.