PRO-PALESTINE activist M. Mythreyar has ended his nine-day hunger and silent protest against Putrajaya’s plan to sell shares in Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (Mahb) to Global Infrastructure Partners (Gip), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of BlackRock.

He told The Malaysian Insight that his protest ended at 4.30pm because today was the last day of the Parliament sitting for the week, and also due to health reasons.

“I started my protest in front of Parliament last week and continued it until today. My main point was to push all lawmakers to talk about this issue in Parliament.

“I hope that my hunger and silent protest will be a good reason for MPs to discuss the issue of the Mahb sale,” he said.

He also said he is on the way to Universiti Hospital with his friend to get a check-up.

The 46-year-old from Tanjung Malim, Perak, said that he is going to rest for two days then return on Saturday to continue his protest.

“I will not give up the fight. I will be resting in Kuala Lumpur, then I will join the “Jalan Jalan Palestine” protest at Bukit Bintang during the night.”

On July 10, the Finance Ministry (MOF) said asset management firm BlackRock Inc was not involved in discussions carried out by members of the consortium led by Khazanah Nasional and Employees Provident Fund about the 30% minority stake in Mahb.

Bernama reported that the MOF said Gip would retain full control over the strategic direction of it and its investee companies.

“Although Gip will be taken over by BlackRock later, it will continue to operate separately from BlackRock.

“The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Gip will also hold a 30% minority interest in Mahb. Thus all important decisions on Mahb will only be implemented with the agreement of consortium members,” MOF said, adding that the transaction completely excluded BlackRock.

Mythreyar said many lawmakers, civil society groups, PAS members, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) chairman Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj, Bersatu Youth chief chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal, former Batu MP Tian Chua, and the public had come to support his cause. – July 18, 2024.