A senior member of Parliament wants International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz to resign for commenting on the Approved Permits (AP) issue despite a cabinet 'gag' on her.

"Rafidah Aziz should quit if she finds it hard to respect the cabinet's decision not to comment on the issue of AP," Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BBC) chairperson Shahrir Abdul Samad said today.

"She should stop making a fool of herself by talking about matters which are no longer under her ministry."

The Umno supreme council member's scathing remarks were in response to the minister's statement reported in an English daily today.

Rafidah, who is also Wanita Umno chief, was quoted in the Star as expressing her personal preference to abolish the APs and at the same time acknowledging that others may disagree with her.

She reportedly said this to 300 businessmen, who responded with loud applause, when opening a closed-door seminar organised by the Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia yesterday.

Out of her hands

Shahrir described her comments as "an utter disrespect for the principle of collective responsibility".

"Those kind of comments should be made at the cabinet meeting. The matter has been taken out of her hands," he said.

"I'm surprised that as a senior minister, she didn't know any better and chose instead to defy a cabinet directive."

He said the 'gag' followed the setting up of a cabinet committee Wednesday chaired by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to review the issuance of APs and a draft on the national automotive policy prepared by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).

Announcement on the new policy is expected next month.

The daily also reported that the ministry had issued a statement prohibiting the press from covering the seminar but Rafidah denied giving such a directive, saying that the organiser had requested it.

There were also news reports on the transfer of Pauzan Majid, her press secretary of 16 years, to the Information Ministry for raising Rafidah's ire in the handling of the press when the AP issue blew up in June. Pauzan had reportedly deferred the promotion last year upon Rafidah's request.

The Star , quoting sources, also reported that the Anti-Corruption Agency had hauled boxes of MITI files following a second visit to the ministry on Wednesday.

Consider merits

In a statement today, Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang wanted a commission of inquiry into the system of issuing APs to determine its contribution to the local automotive industry.

Citing the applause over Rafidah's comments at yesterday's seminar, he said Malaysia was the only country in the world with an AP system that goes against the World Trade Organisation.

He said there was no doubt that her preference to abolish the AP system had "struck a chord of wide national support".

The Ipoh Timor MP said instead of expressing her personal opinion, it would have been better if Rafidah had used her 18 years as MITI minister to propose the complete phase-out of the AP system to preserve the competitiveness of local industries.

He urged the cabinet to seriously consider the merits of her call without bringing in complications arising out of the Rafidah factor.

For this reason, said Lim, Abdullah should set up a commission of inquiry to study the operations of the AP system, its merits and demerits, and whether it had contributed to greater competitiveness for Malaysian industries.

The commission should also look into abuses within the system, and whether it had largely benefitted only a handful of people at the expense of the Malaysian public.