PENANG, Malaysia (AFP)--The chief minister of Malaysia's Penang state has accused the bosses of national energy firm Petronas of "living like kings" while the public is forced to pay higher fuel prices.
Lim Guan Eng, whose Democratic Action Party seized control of the island state, a major technology and manufacturing hub, in March general elections, called on Petronas to reveal all details of its revenues and expenses.
"They should stop behaving like kings who feel they are not accountable to anyone but themselves," he told reporters.
"They have private jets - we want to know how many. They have luxury cars - we want to know how many," he said.
"Petronas must also tell the people how much money it is spending on sponsorship," he said, accusing it of spending millions on supporting orchestras and international events.
Lim dismissed the firm's recent decision to issue a report on its finances, saying it would be too general and only pay lip-service to demands for more accountability.
"It will not throw any light on how their expenses were accounted for," he said.
Lim said Petronas should realize there is growing public anger against it following a recent 41% fuel price hike by the government which has triggered a series of street protests.
The opposition has condemned the price rise, saying that as a net exporter of oil, Malaysia should not have to withdraw fuel subsidies so steeply.
MorningStar
18/06/08
1 comment:
There is a difference between UMNO and Barisan Nasional. I want to make it clear that it is not the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, but the UMNO government. It is not the government, but UMNO. Barisan Nasional is a coalition of unequals, not equals. UMNO is the big brother in BN. Therefore UMNO must be held responsible; and more importantly, UMNO must not be allowed to hide behind the BN banner. UMNO is the enemy, not BN.
I have come to the conclusion that the easy solution is to completely defeat UMNO in the next elections.
In the 2004 elections (11th General Election), the voters gave good support to Mr.Abdullah Badawi. But reforms did not come. Why? Probably because UMNO had done well in the elections. If UMNO had done well in the elections, then the election results tell UMNO that the voters are satisfied with the status quo. If the voters are satisfied with UMNO, then no reforms are necessary. In the 2008 elections (12th General Elections), UMNO did not do well, but she managed to win. UMNO did lose the 2/3 majority in the Parliament, but she did win, nevertheless. Will UMNO undertake reforms now? I would not be surprised if she did not. Why should she? UMNO is still the winner in the elections; and she can plan to rise and may even succeed to rise again. So, as long as she wins, she will never undertake the reforms. So, how do the voters get the reforms that they need? The voters will get the reforms when UMNO is completely defeated in the 13th General Elections. If UMNO wins zero seats in the next elections (13th General Elections), then some other party would have to rule Malaysia. Let us call it Party B. If UMNO is completely defeated in the next elections (13th General Elections), then Party B would rule Malaysia. Would Party B undertake reforms? If Party B does not undertake reforms, then voters would know what to do.
So, the next step for Malaysians is to completely defeat UMNO in the next elections.
Post a Comment