KUALA LUMPUR: A former minister has questioned Malay rights group Perkasa's call for a one-week boycott of Petronas for awarding a solar panel contract to a non-Bumiputera company.
"Petronas had rightly defended its decision as it was merit-based. How else would Petronas make its decision?" said former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Previously, Perkasa president Syed Hassan Syed Ali's remarks about Petronas' decision to award a contract to install 300 solar panels to Solarvest.
According to TV Pertiwi, Syed Hassan voiced disappointment that Petronas did not prioritise Bumiputera contractors and called on consumers to boycott Petronas stations for a week.
"An empty threat of a boycott serves no purpose. (However) there is one boycott the Malays can do.
"It is to boycott Malay political parties or leaders who are not doing anything to help the Malays be successful so they can compete with Solarvest and win contacts on merit."
Zaid however acknowledged the challenges in doing so, including existing monopolies and the lack of capital of Malay companies.
What is needed, he said, was a Malay party with a progressive and radical economic agenda as many were content with the present system.
He said many Malay political leaders were not interested in economics but "socks and boycotts".
"With the status quo, Malay contractors and suppliers will never be able to compete on merit."