KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s privatisation of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and his appointment of Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli to head the effort, are to blame for the flag carrier’s slump that forced the government to name a German to head its revival, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang said today.

According to Lim, MAS had been a “very profitable” carrier that made billions in profits in the 1980s but suffered from Dr Mahathir’s disastrous plan and choice of management, as he criticised the former prime minister’s tongue-in-cheek comment about Malaysians being too “stupid” to manage aviation.

“Mahathir must have suffered another attack of his infamous and selective amnesia as not to realise that he was also condemning himself for his role and responsibility for the gargantuan losses and travails suffered by MAS, producing a most extraordinary rendition of ‘the pot calling the kettle black’,” Lim said in a statement here.

The MAS privatisation deal saw Tajudin, whom Lim labelled as a “fake Towering Malaysian”, taking out a RM1.79 billion loan in 1994 to buy a 32 per cent majority stake in the airline.

Tajudin, who was affected by the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, later sold his stake in MAS to Putrajaya for RM1.79 billion — or RM8 a share — the same amount that he paid in 2001; the company’s closing share price at that time was RM3.68.

In the years since, MAS has undergone three business turnarounds at an estimated cost of nearly RM20 billion to the government.

Lim’s remark came after Dr Mahathir pointedly commented over the weekend of Malaysians being too “stupid” to manage aviation, following the appointment of a German national to head the revamped airline from next year.

On Friday, state wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad announced Christoph R. Mueller as the chief executive officer-designate of the replacement airline in a bid to turn around the crippled national carrier’s misfortunes much as he did with Ireland’s national carrier Aer Lingus.

Today, Lim also questioned the choice of a foreigner to head the country’s national carrier.

“Are Malaysians so bereft of talents, skills, experience and expertise that we have to go outside the country to source for a saviour for MAS?

“Is there not a single soul in Malaysia who could be appointed to do the job?” asked Lim.

Lim then urged for Mueller’s appointment to be put on hold while a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on MAS is immediately appointed to scout for a qualified Malaysian to be entrusted with the crucial job.

Similarly, the Gelang Patah MP suggested for the PSC to vet the Malaysian Airline System Berhad (Administration) Bill 2014, which he claimed was forced through the Parliament at short notice.

The flag carrier marked its seventh quarterly loss in a row recently when it posted a net loss of RM575.6 million for the three months ending September 30, widening from a RM373.2 million deficit in the same period last year.

Last month, the Finance Ministry tabled a new piece of legislation to oversee the administration of financially-troubled MAS, to establish a new entity named Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB), which will replace MAS as the national carrier.

MAS will be delisted on December 15, as part of Khazanah Nasional’s privatisation of the ailing airline for yet another turnaround that was necessitated by two aviation disasters.

Already bleeding, the flag carrier’s business plummeted after it lost Flight MH370 without trace in March and had another flight, MH17, shot down over Eastern Ukraine in July.