Sometimes, less is more

July 8, 2024

KUALA LUMPUR – THE “praise” by a member of the Opposition directed at Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan caught the Foreign Minister off guard in the Dewan Rakyat recently.

Perikatan Nasional MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal began by saying: “I want to ask the Minister when the Prime Minister will visit Russia and meet President Vladimir Putin? From the information I gathered many invitations have been sent and yet no feedback from Putrajaya.”

He then unexpectedly added: “Lastly, the honourable Minister, as a respected former corporate leader, the Perikatan Nasional MPs appreciate your firm reply recently on the sale of MAHB shares to BlackRock,” as Opposition MPs thumped the table in approval.

He was referring to the remarks that Mohamad, who is also Umno deputy president, made about the sale of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) shares, that the sale could be reviewed despite already being at a “very advanced stage”. It was widely reported by the media.

(Umno boss Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi later clarified that Mohamad’s statement was his personal view.)

In the House, Mohamad stood up with a smile and asked “What is the question again?”

But what came after that was an off-the-cuff, rollercoaster of a reply from the Foreign Minister, and it was unsettling to say the least.

“When are we going to Russia? Datuk Speaker, in bilateral relations we need to be careful. Although we have good ties, in the present uncertain geopolitical, very fluid (so) the visit of the Prime Minister needs to be better planned.

“Just because we receive an invitation, we will go. We recei-ved many invitations. But we really need to be cautious about how we should position our country,” Mohamad said, according to Dewan Rakyat