Former minister Rafidah Aziz today reminded Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak that he, too, had been in Dr Mahathir Mohamad's cabinet, after he claimed yesterday that the former premier's era saw political interference in Proton.

"It wasn't political interference. The government made decisions because Proton was the national car, and now, the government under Najib, has given Proton a soft loan.

"And don't forget when I was in cabinet, Najib was there, too," the international trade and industry minister during the Mahathir administration told Malaysiakini.

Yesterday, Najib declared that Mahathir's "era of political interference" in Proton had ended.

Proton Holdings was founded as a wholly-owned government company in 1983, as part of the National Car Project.

It was privatised in 2012 when DRB-Hicom purchased sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional's 42.7 percent stake.

National oil company Petronas and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) also have stakes in Proton.

Proton continues to receive government loans and grants.

Yesterday, the government disbursed RM300 million of the RM1.5 billion soft loan approved to Proton.

The first tranche will be used to pay off Proton's debtors, said Treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Siregar Abdullah.