PETALING JAYA: Former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has lambasted the proposal to boycott PETRONAS for a week by Malay rights group Perkasa.
Zaid suggested that the community should instead boycott Malay political parties/leaders who were not doing anything to help the Malays achieve success.
The proposal by Perkasa came after the national oil and gas company appointed a non-bumiputra company for a solar panel installation contract.
"There is one boycott the Malays can usefully do. It is to boycott Malay political parties/leaders who are not doing anything to help the Malays be successful so they can compete with (companies like) Solarvest and win contacts on merit.
"Instead of boycotting, change the economic model," he said in a post on Facebook on Wednesday (March 27).
Zaid pointed out that PETRONAS had rightly defended its decision as it was merit-based.
"How else would it make a decision? It looks like we, the Malays, have a few boycotts to deal with, as chances are many more awards will be done on merit," he said.
The lawyer also said that empowering the Malays was a long battle even though former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob tried to make Malay computer dealers in the Mara mall as successful as those in Low Yat Plaza.
He also noted that PETRONAS' new contractor Solarvest had the money and the means to compete on merit and so required less government funding, while there was no effective Malay competition in this market.
Zaid suggested supporting a Malay party that had a progressive and radical economic agenda to break the cycle and allow Malays a chance to succeed on merit.
Zaid said the nation should look into the nationalised industries of the 1970s, which were then exchanged for privatisation.
"The curse of privatisation will haunt the Malays for a long time.
"Support a political movement to restore some business control in the hands of the government like we had in the 1970s.
"Cement, other manufacturing facilities, and strategic investments in technology should remain in the hands of the government," he said.
On March 5, Solarvest Holdings Bhd, via its subsidiary Solarvest Energy Sdn Bhd, was appointed by Gentari Renewables Sdn Bhd to install solar power systems at over 300 PETRONAS stations nationwide.
In a statement, the group said the project is scheduled to commence in April and will see the installation of more than 5.4 MWp of solar capacity at the stations.
Gentari Renewables is a subsidiary of Gentari Sdn Bhd, a unit of PETRONAS focused on delivering clean energy solutions.
