00:00This is what UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had to say about his Deputy Mohamad Hassan's
00:21statement on the sale of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad shares to a company linked
00:26to U.S. asset management firm BlackRock.
00:29Zahid, a Deputy Prime Minister, said UMNO's position on the privatization exercise remained
00:34consistent with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's stand.
00:38Yesterday, Mohamad, also known as Topmat, said UMNO ministers had pleaded with sovereign
00:43wealth fund Kazana National Berhad against selling MAHB shares to global infrastructure
00:48partners.
00:50The foreign minister said the deal was not decided by the cabinet and expressed hope
00:53for a review even though it is already at a very advanced stage.
00:58Criticism of the deal arose because GIP is said to be acquired by BlackRock, which has
01:02been accused of profiteering from genocide due to its stakes in U.S. defense firms that
01:07allegedly supply weapons to Israel.
01:09Meanwhile, Zahid said the cabinet had discussed the matter but not in detail, instead it was
01:15discussed thoroughly in a meeting with government backbenchers ahead of the Dewan Raqqat session
01:19which started today.
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