Sale of Petronas stakes: Shafie says won’t pre-empt anything
Published on: Thursday, December 12, 2019
By: Ricardo Unto
KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said he will not pre-empt anything on the recent statement by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on “selling” of Petronas stakes to oil producing states.
“I will be meeting the Prime Minister on the 16th (of December) in Kuala Lumpur together with Sarawak Chief Minister,” he said after the Kota Kinabalu Christmas Celebration, here, Wednesday night.
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“There have been a number of discussions with the authorities, including Petronas and we have forwarded a few options to them. We will look into them...which ones are practical, not only to Petronas but also the State and Federal governments.”
Dr Mahathir was reported saying in an interview with Reuters that the Government would consider selling Petronas stakes to Sabah and Sarawak as the two states demand a bigger share of revenues from oil extracted in their territories.
He said Putrajaya could not meet the states’ demand to increase the royalties paid by Petronas to 20 per cent, but that government could let go of its stakes in smaller units of Petronas.
Sabah and Sarawak hold more than 60 per cent of Malaysia’s oil reserve.
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Meanwhile, on the decision by Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) to give way to Parti Warisan Sabah to contest in the Kimanis by-election, Shafie thanked them for reaching the agreement.
“On the 16th (of December), I will inform the Prime Minister about this.
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“The time will come for us to sit down and I will call for a meeting with all parties in government - Warisan, Upko, PH on how to realise the win.
“But I already told them to work harder a couple of months ago,” he said.
On Wednesday, Sabah PH held a meeting chaired by its chairperson Datuk Christina Liew.
Representatives from all four parties under the pact - PKR, DAP, Parti Amanah Negara and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia – had unanimously agreed to support and to ensure the victory of the candidate to be fielded by Warisan.
Meanwhile, Democratic Action Party (DAP) MP for Kota Kinabalu, Chan Foong Hin Chan, questioned whether Dr Mahathir had been misguided when he mentioned “selling” stakes in Petronas to oil-producing states in the country.
Chan, who is also Sabah DAP Secretary, is worried that Dr Mahathir’s statement on selling Petronas stakes to Sabah and Sarawak could cost the ruling government the Kimanis by-election.
In statement Wednesday, he expressed his concerns that Dr Mahathir’s remarks might backfire if misinterpreted by the people, especially with the by-election coming up.
“It would be good if Tun, as the coalition leader of Pakatan Harapan, could consult with the Warisan-led Sabah Government before making any statement that may be easily misconstrued,” he said.
“It is not right to raise funds for the Federal Government by selling Petronas shares to the state governments.
“I believe that the Prime Minister, in his infinite wisdom, would be able to come up with many other creative ways to raise funds needed to settle federal debts.”
Towards this end, Chan contended that what Dr Mahathir had truly wanted was to suggest fulfilling PH’s manifesto of paying 20pc petroleum royalty or its equivalent to Sabah and Sarawak by way of transferring part of the Federal Government’s ownership in Petronas to the states.
He said he would welcome this suggestion.
“If so, the Sabah Government should pay only a token of RM1 at most for the transfer of the shares in Petronas to them,” he added.
He said the amount of Petronas shares to be offered to the State as an alternative to the 20pc oil royalty has to be at least equivalent to the percentage of petroleum produced by the State in the country.
“In fact, it would be best if the dividend payable yearly through the Petronas shares to be transferred to the State Government is able to cover the 20pc royalty payment.”
Chan said he still could not fathom why the Federal Government kept on claiming that it could not satisfy the demand for the 20pc oil royalty until now.
“Just like GST (goods and services tax) repayments, the 20pc payments to oil-producing states ought to be set aside specifically, probably put into a trust account, and not be used for other purposes,” he said.
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