DISAPPROVAL PERMITTED
On the home front, disclosures involved the names of Approved Permit (AP) recipients, which were made public after queries about the basis of their issuance arose.
Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz was grilled by her peers in the cabinet and Parliament over inconsistencies in the issuance of Approved Permits (APs) for import of foreign cars.
On July 19 in response to fierce queries and criticism, the complete list of individuals who had received APs since 1970 was disclosed.
The names included politicians, royalty, children of prominent Malaysians and two ministry officers, Datuk Seri Syed Azman Syed Ibrahim and Datuk Mohd Haniff Abd Aziz - who received the APs jointly and through several other companies.
The issue was first invoked on June 28 by then Proton CEO Tengku Mahaleel Ariff, (pix, below) who in an interview with the Chinese-language Oriental Daily said the government had been treating Proton unfairly and did not support it enough.
Subsequently he went on leave, two months before his contract (which was not renewed) expired.
A few days later former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad defended Mahaleel and raised the fact that the issuance of 67,000 APs in 2004 had affected Proton sales. The Proton adviser also questioned the under-declaration of Korean cars imported to Malaysia.
Mahathir queried how 20 companies could be given the bulk of more than 50,000 APs when the government's aim was to assist as many bumiputra businessmen as possible.
The chain of events linked to the issue saw Rafidah having to answer questions to the cabinet and Parliament - which the fiery leader did; living up to her "Iron Lady" image.
For the first time she also publicly revealed her softer side, breaking down during a press conference, while reading out portions of the letter she wrote to Mahathir responding to his queries, saying that she was saddened by allegations that she was disrespectful to the former prime minister. (Highlights of the debate are at right).
The Anti-Corruption Agency too probed the matter and visited the ministry, interviewing several staff members from various departments, including the AP department on Aug 5.
The episode led to a review of the AP policy, which was incorporated into the National Automotive Policy framework.
This was following the cabinet's detection of several weaknesses in the previous AP policy after a detailed explanation by Rafidah.
On the home front, disclosures involved the names of Approved Permit (AP) recipients, which were made public after queries about the basis of their issuance arose.
Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz was grilled by her peers in the cabinet and Parliament over inconsistencies in the issuance of Approved Permits (APs) for import of foreign cars.
On July 19 in response to fierce queries and criticism, the complete list of individuals who had received APs since 1970 was disclosed.
The names included politicians, royalty, children of prominent Malaysians and two ministry officers, Datuk Seri Syed Azman Syed Ibrahim and Datuk Mohd Haniff Abd Aziz - who received the APs jointly and through several other companies.
The issue was first invoked on June 28 by then Proton CEO Tengku Mahaleel Ariff, (pix, below) who in an interview with the Chinese-language Oriental Daily said the government had been treating Proton unfairly and did not support it enough.
Subsequently he went on leave, two months before his contract (which was not renewed) expired.
A few days later former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad defended Mahaleel and raised the fact that the issuance of 67,000 APs in 2004 had affected Proton sales. The Proton adviser also questioned the under-declaration of Korean cars imported to Malaysia.
Mahathir queried how 20 companies could be given the bulk of more than 50,000 APs when the government's aim was to assist as many bumiputra businessmen as possible.
The chain of events linked to the issue saw Rafidah having to answer questions to the cabinet and Parliament - which the fiery leader did; living up to her "Iron Lady" image.
For the first time she also publicly revealed her softer side, breaking down during a press conference, while reading out portions of the letter she wrote to Mahathir responding to his queries, saying that she was saddened by allegations that she was disrespectful to the former prime minister. (Highlights of the debate are at right).
The Anti-Corruption Agency too probed the matter and visited the ministry, interviewing several staff members from various departments, including the AP department on Aug 5.
The episode led to a review of the AP policy, which was incorporated into the National Automotive Policy framework.
This was following the cabinet's detection of several weaknesses in the previous AP policy after a detailed explanation by Rafidah.
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