PM Mahathir calls g-77 grouping bulky and unwieldy

PM Mahathir calls g-77 grouping bulky and unwieldy

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysia's outspoken Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday criticized the Group of 77 developing countries, calling it bulky and unwieldy.

Mahathir's rare criticism of developing countries came after his trip to the United States where there was a poor turn-out for a meeting of Group of 77, or G-77, leaders in New York.

Mahathir, who has had prickly relations with the West ever since he came to power in 1981, was critical of the need for decision-making by consensus among all 133 of the G-77 member states.

"In the G-77, everything must be done through consensus by the 133 heads of government," the state-run Bernama news agency quoted Mahathir as telling reporters upon his return to Malaysia.

"Obviously, it is bulky and unwieldy," he said.

The G-77 was originally established with 77 members to help promote the views of developing countries at the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

It includes developing country heavyweights such as China, India, South Africa, Nigeria and Indonesia.

Mahathir said it was more difficult for the G-77 to conduct meetings due its size compared with the Group of Eight rich countries.

Malaysian newspapers said the poor turn-out of leaders at the New York meeting was due to short notice.

Initially billed as a Special G-77 Summit, to take advantage of the gathering of world leaders for the UN Millennium Summit, the G-77 gathering was later downgraded to a special meeting, then a meeting and finally a briefing.

"Except for 'a few' heads of state/government, most of those who turned up for the meeting were senior officials," the Star newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, on domestic matter, Mahathir on Thursday declared that a Malaysian state ruled by the opposition Islamic party had no right to receive oil royalty payments from the federal government.

"This is because the oil is not from Terengganu (state). It is offshore oil and as such under the law it belongs to the federal government," Mahathir was quoted as saying by the national Bernama news agency.

Government and opposition leaders have locked horns this week over millions of dollars in oil royalty payments to Terengganu which federal authorities will no longer allow the state government led by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, or PAS, to administer.

PAS wrested Terengganu from Mahathir's United Malays National Organization in elections last November as its influence grew in Malaysian politics. The new state government has repeatedly accused Mahathir's federal government of trying to starve it of development funds.

On Tuesday, the Finance Ministry announced that the government would cease to channel annual oil royalty payments to Terengganu's state leaders. Instead, a federal-level committee would allocate the funds to build roads and provide low-cost housing for fishermen in Terengganu.

The payments, made annually by the federal government since 1978, usually equal 5 percent of Terengganu's oil and gas production value. This year's payment is expected to total about 810 million ringgit (US$213 million). Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak are Malaysia's oil-producing states. All three have so far received royalty.

The government's decision is seen as a huge financial blow to PAS, which alleges that its annual administration budget in Terengganu is less than 500 million ringgit ($132 million).

"It is not royalty. It is a special payment that we give Terengganu in view of it being the poorest state in the past, but things have changed now," Mahathir told reporters on Thursday.

Opposition leaders say the action violates an agreement between Terengganu and the national oil company, Petronas.