One thinks that the only plausible reason why Proton chairman Abdul Hassan Kendut and his chief executive officer Tengku Mahaleel Ariff had a boardroom clash was mainly because the former had no confidence that Proton could withstand the aggressive onslaught of foreign competition especially from Korean carmakers.

Using the simple logic of an accountant , he may have argued that why risk the RM3.5 billion of funds in its kitty when at the end of the day Proton does not even have a fighting chance against the competition? It is better that the RM3.5 billion in cash be distributed to major Proton shareholders, like Khazanah, through a corporate exercise and the company (Proton) be sold to one of the major competitors.

The emergence of Thailand as the Detroit of the region and the willingness of the Malaysian government to give 'national' status to a number of 'pseudo national cars' recently must have shaken Proton shareholders.

Mahaleel, a double MBA-holder known for his forceful arguments in boardrooms, no doubt would have advanced his usual arguments that the Malaysian auto industry is one of the pillars of the economy as it involves huge investments.

That it would continue to contribute significantly towards the development of small-medium industries (SMIs) through its vendor programme apart from being a hatchery for the development of engineering capability with talents having a spillover effect to related industries.

In this respect, it is no accident that the Italian government had decided to bail out Fiat from its financial woes. Furthermore, with Lotus under its wings, Mahaleel would have argued that Proton has a competitive edge of its own over its peers in the industry.

The Proton boardroom clash was basically a tussle between a senior account as the chairman and a double MBA-holder as the chief executive officer or as between an investor's big picture view against that of a on-the-ground, hands-on CEO's view. Khazanah 'view' was recently 'broadened' when it was reported that it had further increased its stake in Proton by purchasing a significant block from Mitsubishi recently.

The confrontation is not something new. Similar issues were raised at the board level when DRB-Hicom chief Salleh Sulong was Proton chairman. Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad would have certainly supported Mahaleel and the investors would then certainly want to exit before it is too late.

To come back to the chairman-CEO clash, the issue here is whether or not the chairman of Khazanah himself, the present prime minister, will intervene. It should also be mentioned that Petronas is also a substantial shareholder in Proton. This is indeed a first test for Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in corporate decision-making. Would he again fail us?

We have also read of skirmishes between Proton and DRB-Hicom on the supply of cars to a subsidiary of the latter as one of the prime distributors of Proton cars in the country. We saw a press report that only 32 cars had been supplied so far against a delivery lead time of six months. A sore issue indeed.

The present cash commitment of Khazanah and the Malaysian government is certainly very high.

Let us see how Abdullah Ahmad Badawi positions himself in this case - that is if he is going to take a stand at all.