The former Bangi MP called for the government, Khazanah Nasional Bhd and EPF to hold a press conference to explain the deal, and not wait until the next parliamentary sitting.
“When the Parliament session comes next month, (eventually) they will have to answer these questions.
“Instead of waiting until then and letting the opposition control the narrative, why not take the bull by its horns and have a public engagement through a press conference,” Ong said in the latest episode of his podcast “Are We OK?”
Last week, Khazanah and EPF said they planned to take over MAHB through a consortium and privatise the airport operator.
Khazanah will increase its ownership in MAHB from 33.2% to 40% and EPF from 7.9% to 30%, giving Malaysian investors a 70% stake in MAHB.
The remaining 30% will be held by two parties – Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a subsidiary of the American company BlackRock, one of the world’s largest asset management companies which has shares in several defence industry enterprises.
The opposition has alleged that BlackRock owns a stake in companies that manufacture arms which enable Israel to continue its genocide against the Palestinian people and has since called for the sale of MAHB’s shares to GIP to be halted.
Meanwhile, Ong felt that transport minister Loke Siew Fook’s response to Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal “was maybe not so proactive”.
Wan Fayhsal was part of a gathering which had handed over a memorandum to the transport ministry against the planned acquisition of MAHB.
Loke reportedly said that the Machang MP should send it to the right authority, adding that the ministry only served as a regulator for MAHB and was not involved in its business deals.
“This is maybe not so proactive in the sense that it deals with the question whether the MAHB board was consulted on the privatisation,” Ong said, adding that he believed that the Cabinet would have been briefed on the matter.
Ong added that it was important for this issue to be communicated to the public properly.
“It makes sense to have a press conference where the government could explain the rationale for this privatisation exercise.”