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Make Petronas accountable to
Parliament, not just the Prime Minister of the country
Media Statement
by
Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew
(Petaling Jaya,
Wednesday):
Those who watched the CNN's Talk
Asia interview with Anwar Ibrahim (aired on 25 September 2004) or read the
transcript on the CNN.com website would know that the Petronas fund was used
by the former Prime Minister for bailout.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad may have
stepped down but he should be held responsible if what was disclosed by
Anwar Ibrahim was left unchallenged by the government.
Barely less than three weeks after the
last petrol price hike, the PM is now talking about another price hike. He
said this is unavoidable without telling why this is so.
Most Malaysians are not convinced
because everyone knows that we are a significant oil producing countries. Or
may be the rumours about Malaysia has been selling our oil well in advance
at a much lower tag (around US$19 a barrel) compared to the current prices
were not baseless. Japanese and Taiwanese oil traders were said to be
laughing all the way to the bank.
Many Malaysians may not know that the
full account of the national petroleum company is only accessible to the
Prime Minister. Not even the Finance Minister. Anwar's revelations were not
new but they were never challenged by Petronas, Mahathir or any other
government leaders.
It's time to make the accounts of
Petronas available to all Members of Parliament for greater transparency and
checks and balances.
Public funds must not be treated as
private ones. We do not want our public fund to be used for any other
bailouts in future.
(20/10/2004)
* Ronnie Liu
Tian Khiew, DAP International Secretary
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http://dapmalaysia.org