Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's statement in London yesterday that culprits involved in misappropriation of funds at Perwaja Steel and Malaysia Airlines System would face charges in court even if they were his "cronies" has met with criticism from the opposition.

PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali today said action should not be taken against corporate figures linked to former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin merely because Daim had "fallen off" with Mahathir.

"Dr Mahathir says that he will act even against cronies. Very good, and we welcome this ... to prove that there is no practice of double standards or victimisation, investigations must also be carried out immediately on those very close to the prime minister," he said.

On Sunday, during a dialogue with Malaysians in London, Mahathir admitted that there was possible misappropriation of funds and mismanagement in Perwaja which has suffered several billion ringgit in losses.

He said the government had already investigated the matter but the missing money was not easily recovered as it was reported to be in a Swiss bank account. Swiss monetary authorities were not willing to reveal who the account-holders were.

Syed Husin said complaints have also been made against the premier's son, Mirzan Mahathir, and International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz for alleged corrupt practices and the question remained when the police and Anti-Corruption Agency will act against them.

New excuses

"Or are they going to be protected in the same manner that Mahathir has protected Chia (Eric Chia, Perwaja director) for so long? Or are new excuses going to be offered, as Mahathir has done, to explain the delay in taking action against Perwaja?" he queried.

Syed Husin said Mahathir may be merely trying to mislead and pacify his audience in London and the statements may be "politically motivated" in view of the coming general elections.

"If Mahathir is really serious and sincere, he should initiate a thorough cleanup of financial misappropriation and mismanagement among corporate figures as well as politicians, including those he knows are his own cronies," he said.

DAP, meanwhile, has called on the government to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Perwaja scandal with former ACA director-general Zaki Husin being appointed to assist the inquiry.

In a press statement, DAP chief Lim Kit Siang said Mahathir had never given the public the impression that he was "very concerned and diligent in wanting to get to the bottom of scandal".

Anwar's police report

Lim said that in July 1999, former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim had lodged a police report alleging Mahathir's involvement in the matter.

In his police report, Anwar, who was then finance minister, said international accountants Price Waterhouse were appointed as independent auditors in early 1996 soon after being alerted that Perwaja was almost insolvent and would require massive injection of funds from the government.

Anwar had said that the appointment of auditors had to be done because several earlier attempts to obtain detailed information from the management, particularly Chia, failed as he repeatedly claimed that his action had the support and was under the direction of the prime minister.

Anwar also revealed that Chia's claim was further substantiated with letters written by the prime minister himself.

"Was Anwar's allegation of the prime minister's involvement in the Perwaja scandal true? And if not, why wasn't there a full and convincing public exoneration of Mahathir such as by way of a public inquiry?" said Lim.

ACA chief removed

He also queried why Mahathir made a last-minute decision in March last year not to renew Zaki's appointment as ACA's director-general. This was made shortly after Zaki announced a breakthrough that the Swiss government had agreed to co-operate with the ACA in its investigations into Perwaja Steel.

"Instead of giving Zaki the full support so that the breakthrough could lead to the solution of one important aspect of the scandal, Mahathir decided to remove Zaki from the ACA at the most critical stage," said Lim.

"A Royal Commission of Inquiry would afford Mahathir the opportunity to clear himself of the serious charges of involvement in the scandal which had been levelled against him by Anwar Ibrahim in his police report in July 1999."

Keadilan secretary-general Sahri Bahari urged thorough investigations to be conducted into Perwaja immediately without fear or favour.

"The longer this matter drags, the more ACA's credibility would be at stake," said Sahri, in a press statement.

"The minister of finance should, at the least, explain to the coming parliamentary session in March about the real situation of Perwaja to restore the rakyat' s and investors' confidence in the country," he added.