Dr Mahathir accuses Tajuddin Ramli of being ungrateful
FMT Reporters | May 4, 2018
In stinging response, former premier accuses tycoon of being a Najib man in making his recent outburst about 1990s MAS share deal.
PETALING JAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad shot back at former Malaysia Airlines chairman Tajudin Ramli, calling him ungrateful and casting doubt on Tajuddin’s abilities, after the tycoon had spoken of being pressured by Mahathir into buying the airline in the 1990s.Mahathir said the government had helped Tajudin to sell back his shares at above-market rate. “But Tajudin is ungrateful to the person who assisted him.”
He added: “Never mind, I don’t need his support. He is now with Najib (Razak). That happens with anyone who is associated with Najib. It’s up to you what you want to say.”
Mahathir today questioned Tajudin’s management skills.
He said he had once thought the tycoon to be a capable businessman. “He’s a Malay, a Kedahan at that, so I supported. But after he took over, I found out that he was not a good manager.”
He then related his experience when sharing a flight with Tajudin in a small aircraft. “He asked a MAS engineer to serve him on the flight. The way he treated him was improper. So he (Tajuddin) did not have the calibre to be a good manager,” Mahathir said.
Tajudin, the former boss of telecommunications giant Celcom, appeared in a video recently recounting behind-the-scene conversations in the 1990s with Daim Zainuddin, the finance minister then, who was regarded as Mahathir’s most trusted ally.
Tajudin said Daim had approached him to take over the government’s holdings in MAS in a controversial deal that resulted in the government buying back his shares seven years later at the same price that he had paid, after MAS suffered severe losses.
Tajudin said he had offered to pay RM5 per share but Daim had brought a message from Mahathir urging him to buy it at the rate of RM8. “I kept quiet. I told him I cannot buy. Then he (Daim) said, ‘You don’t say no to the prime minister’,” Tajudin said in the video.
