"Efforts to smear my name appear to be continuing. One by one they surface. Sometimes no names are mentioned but the implication is still the same. That makes me sad. Just let me retire. Do not disturb me, or I will be forced to defend myself."

Such was the harsh protest former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad issued when he was interviewed by a Mingguan Malaysia reporter (please refer to Mingguan Malaysia , Feb 13, 2005) after he had been accused by the foreign media (the Asian Wall Street Journal ) of interfering in the management of Proton Holdings Berhad in his capacity as Proton advisor until it caused headaches for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and resulted in Abu Hassan Kendut stepping down as Proton chairperson.

The call to "allow him to retire" is somewhat strange, if it was with reference to the post of prime minister, since he has already retired from that post for more than a year. Or if it was with reference to his post as advisor to Proton (and also Petronas) since he has already stated that he will not step down from the post.

He said: "If I make the same move (step down because I cannot stand it any more), it will look like I am guilty. If I have erred, show me what I have done wrong. What have I done that is so damaging or caused headaches? In the Tengku Mahaleel matter, I did not agree with him being removed, and I have the right to give my opinion."

Can a Proton advisor retain a chief executive officer on the premise that the move is not wrong, even though as advisor, he had the right to give his personal opinions?

Defending himself

At the same time, a move to remove a government corporate advisor will surely be seen as a trivial matter since the sacking of a minister, or a deputy prime minister for that matter, has already been accepted by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government as the special prerogative of the prime minister. As such, there will surely be no one brave enough to ask him, "What wrong have I done?". Any objection is surely futile!

Only an influential individual, for instance someone like Mahathir, will have the clout to retain the Proton chief executive officer, who had been targeted for removal, and cause the resignation of its chairperson.

And after winning that first round, he was even able to issue a warning to any party involved not to disturb him, or else he will be forced to defend himself!

If Pak Lah, as the party which wants to restructure the organisation and policies of Proton - as per the views of the foreign media involved, is a prime minister with clout, then is he willing to remain silent and only dance to the beat of our former PM?

Or are the allegations of the foreign media, that is the former PM is causing headaches for the present PM, not without basis because as advisor, he is still wielding influence in the management of Proton until he could thwart all the plans and restructuring moves?

Presence of Temasek

In any case, the people of Malaysia have the right to know the real truth. If appears that the various parties involved should clarify several matters which arose during the interview, including:

1. Is it true that the former PM has caused headaches for our PM as reported in the foreign media?

2. Is it true that the restructuring of Proton is underway? If so, what is the source and its aims?

3. Singapore government owned Temasek has purchased five percent of Proton's shares. If other companies buy less than five percent each, they do not have to make an announcement. As such, according to the former PM, if Proton is no longer our property, how will we know? Is his concern warranted?

4. Is the decision to buy an interest in Lotus PLC (Lotus), which is a sports car manufacturer, and motorcycle manufacturing firm MV Agusta in Italy - which was said to be very pricey - a wrong decision made by the former PM as has been alleged by certain parties?

5. Have models like the Tiara and Juara failed because they were not built according to demand but on the orders of Mahathir, as has been revealed by reporters?

Mahathir has already rebutted and defended all the allegations involved. Malaysians are surely eager to hear the accounts from the other side before drawing their own conclusions about what the truth is - even though that is most difficult to come by without a free media and a dire lack of a culture of transparency and accountability.

As the automotive industry pioneer in our nation and Proton advisor, it is easy to understand Mahathir's efforts to defend the past and present decisions and policies of Proton.

And it cannot be denied that, as Mahathir is so proud of, "When I was young, as a Malay in those days, we felt it was difficult to even make matches, but now, we have manufactured cars, even airplanes!"

Proton's dilemma

But that achievement alone is not enough if our automotive industry cannot compete in the world market, or even in the local market, with competitive pricing, appropriate quality and cutting-edge technology, without grossly excessive and ongoing protectionism

In the interview, Mahathir himself failed to reveal the strategy which can be implemented to overcome Proton's present weaknesses, and only placed his hopes on the (somewhat abstract) "abilities and loyalty" of the rakyat who love Proton!

For example, he admitted that he was not able to overcome the challenge of the glut of cheap cars. He was amazed how there could be nations which can churn out cars so cheaply - their "landed price" was only RM11,000!

Mahathir could also not deny that Proton's grip on the market has deteriorated from 80 percent to 40 percent - even though the total number of cars sold may not have declined - when he himself already knows the cause of the lack of competitiveness of Proton's cars.

According to him: "Proton builds more than 200,000 cars each year while the giant automotive firms each make millions of cars a year, while the cost of coming out with a model is very high - between RM 500 million to RM1 billion including design, engine and platform costs."

When he was asked what if Proton fails to compete, his answer was even if we fail to compete, our engineering ability still exists. We understand how to make something. We can make many other things.

The power and influence struggles in Proton are still going on, but one certainty is that the automotive industry of our nation is facing the challenges of a glut of cheap cars and lack of competitiveness, which represent the Proton dilemma... and the Mahathir dilemma!