ROYAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY

Penang CM: Royal commission can shed light on 'NEP saboteurs'

Harakahdaily

PENANG, Aug 17: While UMNO, MCA and Perkasa were immersed in a debate sparked by MCA's call for the reduction of the 30% Bumiputera corporate equity, DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng (pic) said setting up a royal commission of inquiry to determine how RM52 billion of Bumi and Malay shares were hijacked over the years could help enlighten the issue. “If the RM52 billion worth of Bumi shares still remained in Bumi hands, then the 30 per cent Bumi or Malay equity target under the NEP would have long been achieved," said Lim, the Penang chief minister. He said by shying away from accountability over the 'lost' RM52 billion in Bumi shares, the BN were using the NEP to divide and rule by playing up racial sentiments among Malaysians. "Clearly racial polemics over the NEP benefit the BN to distract attention from the real problems Malaysians face,” he stressed, adding that deep-seated corruption, inefficiency, abuse of power, mediocrity and lack of rule of law were the main problem facing the nation. In June last year, prime minister Najib Razak revealed that out of the RM54 billion shares allocated to Bumiputera since the introduction of the New Economic Policy in 1970, only RM2 billion remained in Bumiputera hands. The total Bumiputera equity was only 19.4 per cent, way below from the target of 30 per cent almost two decades ago. “Clearly the RM52 billion worth of shares given to the few Malay or Bumi leaders were cashed out and sold off. Stern action and the full force of the law should be unleashed at this open sabotage of the NEP,” said Lim. 'Monstrous hijack' Lim also questioned why MCA, UMNO and Perkasa were reluctant for an investigation into what he called a "monstrous" hijack of RM52 billion worth of Bumi shares and refused to support DAP’s call for a royal commission of inquiry to compel BN leaders who cashed out the shares. “In Parliament all BN MPs have refused to support DAP’s call for a royal commission of inquiry to act against these saboteurs and compel them to cough up and return RM 52 billion back to the government to be redistributed to poor Malays or Bumis,” he added. At the recent MCA Chinese Economic Congress, Najib’s brother, CIMB chief executive officer Nazir Razak, hit out the abuse of the NEP by Malay and Bumiputera businesses and urged Najib’s administration to review the affirmative action policy. Sparking a debate was a call by MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek for a reduction of the 30 per cent Bumi equity as well as for implementation of the open tender system for government procurements. Lim described the continued refusal to take action against "these NEP saboteurs" as "an immoral act designed to protect their own cronies who have profited shamelessly from a policy that is supposed to assist the poor Malays".