Earlier today, the Bersatu Youth chief was slapped with a six-month suspension from the lower house for referencing a poison-pen letter naming an EPF officer as the alleged mastermind of the Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd privatisation deal.
In a Facebook post, Wan Fayhsal claimed that he was not given the chance to defend himself against law minister Azalina Othman Said’s motion to suspend him from Parliament.
“(This is) another dark spot in the country’s parliamentary democracy,” he said.
“As a result of this suspension, I will miss debating Budget 2025 during the upcoming October meeting. God willing, my fellow (MPs) will continue to fight and voice out the people’s interests in this august house.
“Machang has to step back. See you next year.”
Azalina tabled an urgent motion to suspend Wan Fayhsal for six months after he was alleged to have slandered an EPF officer for stating that he was behind the MAHB takeover.
In a letter to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul, Azalina referenced Wan Fayhsal’s speech in the Dewan Rakyat on July 1 in which he highlighted a viral post on social media which claimed that an EPF officer had actively pushed for the deal with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).
She said Wan Fayhsal’s reference to the poison-pen letter had a detrimental effect on the alleged mastermind and also unfairly harmed government officers.
Wan Fayhsal is said to have referenced the poison-pen letter when debating the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam)’s report in the Dewan Rakyat.
GIP and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are poised to take up a 30% stake in MAHB through a consortium led by sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, which will own 40% of MAHB’s shareholding, and EPF, which will own 30%.
Critics have objected to the deal as GIP will be acquired in the third quarter of this year by US investment firm BlackRock, which has stakes in US defence companies that allegedly manufacture weapons used by Israel.
However, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim explained that GIP was chosen as it had accepted the condition that the chairman and CEO of MAHB must be Malaysian.
GIP has said BlackRock is not involved in the MAHB deal. Khazanah also maintained that GIP will not be involved in the management of the airport operator.