“It’s something inappropriate from the standpoint of… national politics,” Mahathir said
China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) bought 1 Malaysia Development Berhad’s Edra Global Energy for $2.3 billion in March, giving Beijing a major position within the energy sector.
Typically, foreign investors can only come clean with 49 percent of Malaysian power firms unless they’re exempted by the federal government. According to a report by Moody’s Investors Service, Kuala Lumpur has granted CGN an exemption.
“These are power plants owned by Malaysians – you buy them and sell them to another nation. This is inappropriate,” Mahathir said.
“Our people have the money to run it. They were doing quite well. But you are offering to buy it [the power assets] at a price higher than the market price. Then you offer to sell it at a lower price. It’s kind of stupid, isn’t it?”
Mahathir said he was not against China but questioned the federal government’s logic regarding the deal.
“On the one hand, this can be a certain profit,” he said.
“We want to be friendly with China, we have no disputes with them. We have to keep the balance. We need to know what the consequences are. There will always be pros and cons, pros and cons.”
Mahathir, who has ruled Malaysia for 22 years, has been calling on Najib to step down since problems with state-owned company 1MDB began to return to light last yr. Najib was plunged into crisis in July when it was revealed that $681 million had been transferred to his personal bank accounts in 2013. He claims they were “personal donations” from the Saudi royal family.
“In my opinion, 1MDB is borderline criminal. I can’t overlook it and say let’s keep playing,” Mahathir said.
IMDB is also under investigation for alleged money laundering and embezzlement in at least six countries, including Switzerland, Luxembourg, the US and Singapore.
Najib chaired 1MDB’s advisory board, which racked up 42 billion ringgit ($9.6 billion) in debt in less than five years. He recently fell behind on interest payments on two bonds.
According to Najib, as part of its debt repayment efforts, 1MDB sold its energy assets and property development venture to Chinese companies, thus reducing its debt by RM40.4 billion ringgit ($10 billion). He was replaced as 1MDB chairman by Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah in May, but denies any wrongdoing.
Mahathir said that while Malaysia practices openness in trade, the same cannot be said for China.
“We are very open [market]. While we must be open and friendly, we must also think about the needs of our citizens,” Mahathir said.
“We cannot go to China and make such an offer. They use some form of protection by creating specifications that cannot be met.
As an example, he gave the fact that cars of continental production are sold in the country.
“But we cannot go to China and export fully built-up cars to China. We can’t even produce cars there without a special license… It’s very difficult to get a license,” said Mahathir, who headed the domestic production of Malaysian Proton cars.
This month, Najib won two by-elections with overwhelming majorities – votes that were considered referendums on his rule.
Mahathir campaigned against Najib, accusing him of corruption over the 1MDB fiasco.
While he was disappointed with Najib’s victories, he admitted that selling 1MDB to voters was difficult.
“1MDB is very complicated. Farmers and fishermen cannot even imagine a million ringgit, [let alone] 42 billion ringgit,” Mahathir said.
“They do not feel the impact of 1MDB and the federal government’s have to repay huge debts.”
Mahathir also admitted that despite his efforts, Najib may very well be re-elected in 2018: “Of course it is a possibility.”
Najib accused Mahathir of attempting to overthrow him in order that his son Mukhriz Mahathir, who until recently was a member of the ruling United Malays National Organization (Umno) party, could take power. On Friday, Umno expelled the younger Mahathir and former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin for “demonizing” Najib’s leadership. Both had previously been suspended from the party.
Mahathir, who left Umno in February this yr, rejected claims that his son had planned to take over the leadership, saying that if he had wanted his son in power, he would have done so when he was prime minister from 1981 to 2003.
“If I wanted to do something for my son first, that was when I was there [of power]and I could promote him. I actually prevented him from entering politics,” he said.
“After my resignation, he entered politics himself. To me, having such a incredible design is an absurd suggestion.
Najib’s office also called on Mahathir to call a candidate to switch him to prove he had no such ambitions for his son.
“I do not really have anyone in mind. If [Najib] leaves, Umno and the ruling coalition, BN, will still be in power. They should select amongst themselves,” Mahathir said.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Reuters
