The International Trade and Industry Ministry dismissed the claim by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad that the latter had never approved a 'national car' status for vehicles produced by Naza Kia Sdn Bhd.

"It is a question of interpretation. The principal private secretary (of Mahathir) had sent a letter (to Naza) dated July 16, 2002 to confirm there was no objection from the (former) premier (to the status)," Miti Deputy Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah told the Dewan Rakyat today.

"(Hence,) Miti's interpretation was that (Naza) is a national car. We discussed with the Finance Ministry and eventually it was the Finance Ministry which gave the incentive (for national cars) on the advice of Miti," he said in his ministry's winding-up speech on the Budget 2006 debate.

He explained that the 'national car' statuses given to Proton and Naza were different. He said only certain models produced by Naza - including the Naza Ria, Citra and Spectra - were deemed as national cars whereas any model produced by Proton was automatically given a 'national car' status.

"Naza also has another limitation where the company (can only) produce a maximum of 20,000 cars for local consumption and after that, they will not enjoy the incentive any more [...] that's a difference," Ahmad Husni said.

Reduced APs

He was responding to a clarification sought by Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) who said that Mahathir, who is also the Proton advisor, had revealed during a television interview that he had not known he was to launch Naza as a national car "until it was too late".

Mahathir said a letter to him from Naza had merely sought his advice on making a certain Naza model a 'national car' and he had replied that he had no objections but clarified it was not an approval.

When he later quizzed Miti Minister Rafidah Aziz on the matter during a cabinet meeting, Mahathir claimed she had said the 'national car' status had already been approved for Naza and that it was "difficult" to rescind the approval.

Ahmad Husni also said his ministry planned to reduce the number of Approved Permits (APs) issued annually for the import of foreign cars and this move would be included in the drafting of the National Automotive Policy.

Last week, when responding to a suggestion from a backbencher that the APs be tendered out, the deputy minister said there were no plans for this as their issuance was based on applications.

OK becomes 'KO'

Today explanation's by Ahmad Husni, however, failed to appease the MPs who repeatedly grilled him on the alleged unfair distribution of the controversial permits.

Said Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Jerai): "We already understand the AP policy, what we don't understand is only the policy of issuance [...] they're wrongly issued. I have spoken about Proton for so many times and every time I get the answer is OK but in the end it turns out to be 'KO'".

Ahmad Husni said whatever allegations surrounding the alleged unfair distribution of APs or whether they were being sold for a profit should be left to the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) to investigate.

"Let us wait for the ACA to complete its probe and come out with the findings [...] then we can ascertain how true are the allegations," he said several times.

At the outset of his winding-up speech, Ahmad Husni said Rafidah had "indeed" intended to be present in Parliament today to answer questions by MPs personally but could not do so as she was still recuperating from her knee surgery.

"She has asked me to send her regards to every MP present here today," the deputy minister said. Last week, many MPs had requested that Rafidah turn up at today's winding-up session to present more explanations on the AP controversy.

At press time, only the winding-up speeches from two ministries - out of nine - were not delivered by the ministers themselves. The other was from the Internal Security Ministry which was delivered by its deputy minister Chia Kwang Chye.

The winding-up session began yesterday and will stretch over three days. Today's sitting was extended until 11pm to ensure all 28 ministries complete the winding-up speeches by tomorrow.