Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam, in his book titled ‘Frankly Speaking’, accused Prime Minister Najib Razak of turning the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) into a public listed company in hopes that the settlers would get lots of shares at favourable rates.
He said Najib has used Felda as a tool to gain the Malay rural vote, but from an offer price of RM5.39 in June 2012, Felda shares were trading at around RM1.54 as of March this year.
“It is not surprising that Najib’s motives were widely regarded as political. He was probably thinking that he had to depend on Malay rural votes and wanted a way to win the favour of this group.
“The political calculation was simple. If Najib could use Felda to get Malay support, his chances of retaining power would be very good,” he says, adding that, instead, Felda has turned into a serious problem for the government,” wrote Musa.
Musa also said he was worried that the fate that has befallen Felda may befall Tabung Haji, an initiative inspired by Royal Professor Ungku Abdul Aziz to help Muslims perform the hajj.
According to Musa, it appears that Tabung Haji is open to abuse, in citing an example from 2012 when two Tabung Haji personnel were charged in a sessions court with altering its database and receiving bribes.
“Najib seems to have no effective answer to its problems.”