PARLIAMENT Two consecutive emergency motions to discuss the de-listing from Bursa Malaysia of national rice firm Bernas, owned by tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhari, by opposition MPs were shot down today.

This paveg the way for the de-listing of Bernas, which has been set for March 21.

PKR’s Alor Setar MP Gooi Hsiao Leong (left) raised the motion on the matter yesterday, but it was rejected by deputy speaker Ismail Mohd Said.

Similarly, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim raised a similar motion today and he too was unsuccessful.

Any new motion needs to be re-submitted to speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia’s office, but the suspension of trading in the shares of Bernas could go through before the whole procedure to present a motion for debate in Parliament is exhausted.

At a press conference later, Anwar called the government “dishonest” for not standing up to Syed Mokhtar in order to ensure that the five percent of shares in the company were allocated to the padi farmers and fishermen.

Apart from de-listing, Bernas intends to acquire all the shares in the company for a restructuring exercise for its non-core businesses.

Anwar had personally promised, when he was deputy prime minister in the mid-1990s, that the privatisation of Bernas would ensure a certain share for villagers and farmers.

“I have done my best now. I have done what I could. I’m not here to politicise this issue,” he said.

However, Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob (right) told reporters in the Parliament lobby that he still did not see the urgency of the matter as raised by Anwar.

"There is an agreement between Bernas and the government to protect the interest of farmers.

"The government still has a golden share in Bernas," Ismail said, insisting that the de-listing was a "business decision".

"The government is still in control and we will make sure the welfare of the farmers are taken care of," he said.