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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 — Businessman Datuk Shamsubahrin Ismail declared today the full political support of taxi drivers for Umno’s newest splinter party if the government legalises ride-sharing firms Uber and Grab by year end.
The founder and adviser of Big Blue Taxi Services has repeatedly accused both Uber and Grab of stealing business from legit taxi drivers in the country and said cabbies would no longer support the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition if it could not protect their rice bowl.
“This approval is a no-go for me. For the taxi industry, no-go, we will fight all the way. We will make sure if Uber is legalised by the end of this year, we will 100 per cent support the new party which is Parti Pribumi,” he told a news conference at the taxi company’s office here.
“We will support Tan Sri Muhyiddin [Yassin], we hope Tan Sri Muhyiddin will support the industry and transform the industry properly. Because we cannot rely on Barisan Nasional anymore,” he added.
Shamsubahrin was responding to news reports yesterday that the Cabinet had given its approval for the Public Transport Commission (SPAD) to regulate Uber and Grab, which effectively legitimises the two ride-share entities.
It was reported yesterday that the Cabinet made its decision after a presentation by SPAD CEO Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah, during which he proposed an overhaul of the traditional taxi industry.
Eleven initiatives were laid out including a proposal to transform the industry with improvements to the Teksi 1Malaysia model, and providing individual taxi permits to drivers with clean track records.
SPAD aims to table a Bill on the legalisation of Uber and Grab during the Parliament meeting in November.
Parti Pribumi is led by Muhyiddin and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who are critics of the Barisan Nasional government.
