KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has accepted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s challenge to debate the financially-troubled Sapura Energy Berhad.
In a Facebook post, Anwar said his stand on the matter remained clear and unchanged since he first threw down the gauntlet to Najib to debate the economy more than a decade ago, which never materialised.
“Now he chooses to challenge me during the early part of Ramadan month, after failing to answer Rafizi Ramli’s rebuttals on the issue of Sapura’s ‘bailout’ at a time when the poor and small traders are not cared for,” said Anwar.
“I am ready to face and debate Najib Razak at any time for the people and country.”
In 2018, Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) — which manages the savings of the Bumiputera community and is the parent of investment vehicles such as Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad (ASNB) — paid RM2.68 billion in a deal that increased its shareholding in Sapura from 12.6 per cent to 40 per cent.
After Sapura’s latest losses were published, Najib — who has been found guilty of misappropriating funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former 1MDB subsidiary — urged the government to protect the company from bankruptcy.
Najib, who is also the Pekan MP, is currently standing trial for misappropriating funds from 1MDB suggested that the government either provide loans or instruct Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) or Khazanah Nasional to take over ownership of PNB’s stake.
He reportedly said if Sapura goes bankrupt, 10.6 million Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) investors will suffer direct losses of RM4 billion.
He also said that PNB, the Employees Provident Fund and other provident funds will face indirect losses due to debts of RM10 billion owed to local banks, such as Maybank, of which PNB owns 50 per cent, adding that some 10,000 people would lose their jobs at Sapura.
In response, Rafizi, who is a former Pandan MP, called the suggestion “perverse Najibonomics” and said that the bailout would only benefit a handful of elites when the money could be better spent helping Malaysian businesses reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic.
