Last Updated: 4:47pm, Dec 04, 2013

JUST what is the story behind the story of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation as Petronas adviser? Is there really a story behind the story?  

But first the reason for Mahathir to quit Petronas – that the doctor told him to take it easy. In other words due to “health reasons”.

Pro Mahathir bloggers (or those close to the former PM) do not seem to be buying that.

Datuk A Kadir Jasin is one. He wrote in his blog that while he took the doctor’s  advice at face value,  but “what I know is he does not have to climb 88 floors to get to his office at Petronas and the job was not  9 to 5 , seven days a week. He can even advise without being there”.

To Syed Akbar Ali of Outsyed The Box fame, the “give away”‘ was when Mahathir said he was not thinking about quitting as Proton adviser yet.

“Rupanya Tun Dr Mahathir sakit masa kat Petronas saja. Masa kat Proton Tun sihat. Alhamdulillah ”. That’s Malay for “Looks like Tun Dr Mahathir is sick only at Petronas.  At Proton Tun is in good health. Praise be to Allah”. That’s  how Outsyed The Box puts it.

As we know , Mahathir is also adviser to LADA, ( the Langkawi Development  Authority ),  TDA ( Pulau Tioman Development Authority)  and chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Petronas .

So I ask again - is there a story behind the story of  him quitting Petronas?

Syed Akbar and  Kadir seem to “imply” there is. Or at least “suggest”. Or “suspect” such a thing.

According to Syed Akbar, what he heard was “Dr Mahathir is getting tired of this fellow: Omar Mustapha Ong, who is now ‘de facto’ boss of Petronas”.

And  Syed Akbar went on to write :” He is the PM’s closest ‘adviser’. The PM appointed him a board member of Petronas. Talk is Dr Mahathir’s  letters and queries to Petronas went unanswered. Letters he wrote went unanswered for three months. So Dr Mahathir got fed up and decided to throw in his shoes”.

Kadir had a similar tone, writing in his blog thus: “He is better off letting go of the Petronas job than hanging on to it and risk suffering the heartache of being spurned by The Power that now controls the national oil company”.

And just who might “The Power” be?

“Everybody knows that the single most influential person among Petronas’ board members is Omar Ong and everybody knows that Dr. Mahathir objected to his appointment,” wrote Kadir.

Among Mahathir’s parting words were, “I hope Petronas will continue to play its role in nurturing young entrepreneurs, “as quoted by English daily The Star.

To Kadir,  “that bit  about continuing to nurture young entrepreneurs is loaded because he was recently embroiled in a tussle of sorts with the Petronas management over allegations that the national oil company was not doing enough to help Bumiputera businessmen”.

The allegations Kadir was talking about are the ones brought up by Malay lobby group Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Melayu or MTEM who according to Datuk Ahirudin Attan of Rocky Bru “has been arm twisting Najib Razak to sack Shamsul Azhar Abas, the CEO of Petronas”.

According to Ahirudin, Mahathir “had made time for them” and MTEM then  wanted to meet the PM but did not get to meet Datuk Seri Najib Razak. The PM, wrote Ahirudin, being a busy man “had to get one of his advisers to stand in and listen to the MTEM guys on his behalf.

The rep listened, accepted a memorandum for the PM containing pages and pages on why Shamsul should be sacked and then had to take the rest of the week off to seek therapy, I was told. It was that bad”.

MTEM’s grouses over Petronas have been rumbling for some time. But in February it was reported that a meeting was held between MTEM and Petronas which was chaired by Shamsul.

MTEM chairman Datuk Syed Ali Alattas had then thanked Petronas and described the two hour meeting as “fruitful and positive, going forward”. He was quoted as saying Petronas and MTEM will establish a joint working committee to sort out all issues pertaining to Bumiputera participation in projects from the national oil corporation.

Perhaps things didn’t turned out the way MTEM had hoped for. Hence its decision to meet Najib presumably to seek the PM’s intervention.

A day before the news of the MTEM-Petronas meeting was published, national news agency Bernama ran an interview  with Mahathir where the then Petronas adviser said,  Petronas was caught between championing its founding objective of uplifting the Bumiputera  business community and to open up its business for foreign participation in line with its business globalisation plan.

“When we open up, foreign companies tend to overtake local companies in securing contracts as they have a better portfolio and a proven track record”, Mahathr was quoted saying.

But he had also said “Petronas will always remember its founding principle to assist local companies especially Bumiputera firms and local Bumiputera companies must be given priority in awarding projects”.

Mahathir went on to say that Petronas , MTEM and other NGOs had held discussions on how to tackle the issue and to reach a win-win solution. The former PM had hoped for  a good plan to emerge.

Are we right to assume that the “good plan” did not emerge?

It is said many are expecting the MTEM versus Petronas  issue to be  brought  up at the Umno General Assembly. So too Mahathir’s resignation from Petronas. Will it?

To Umno blogger Shabudin Husin,  as  Mahathir’s  resignation letter was submitted to Najib days before the Umno Assembly, some questions have arisen with “many asking if that is a sign of Mahathir’s growing dissatisfaction towards Najib’s leadership.”

Kadir had already opined that Mahathir “can now say and write things about the government without having to look over his shoulders. He is not beholden to the government anymore” –  going on to write, “He might have already fired the first salvo when he said there was corruption during is time as Prime Minister but it is worse now ”.

Anyway if the MTEM issue and/or Mahathir’s resignation are not talked about openly in PWTC’s  Dewan Merdeka, the venue of the Umno Assembly, chances are  it will be at the lobbies of hotels where delegates stay and at the coffee houses.

Incidentally, Outsyed The Box’s post on Mahathir quitting did not mention the MTEM issue. Apart from writing on what he had heard about Mahathir being not happy with Mustapha Omar Ong,  Syed Akbar highlighted two of Petronas’ most illustrious personnel - Tan Sri Hassan Merican and Datuk Medan Abdullah - who he said  “left Petronas  when Omar Ong was appointed Petronas director”.

Somehow Outsyed The Box’s heading for the post read  “Ethnic cleansing at Petronas”.

Will this be brought up by Umno folks? Out loud or in whispers?

Mohsin Abdullah is a specialist writer at fz.com. He likes rojak. And nasi campur. And durians. Perhaps that’s why he writes about this, that and everything else. Pretty much rojak and nasi campur. As for his writings, well, they can be like durians. Aromatic and delicious to some people, smelly and off-putting to others.

For more stories, go to www.fz.com, the website for freedom of expression and fairness in articulation.