Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's claim that he did not mislead Malaysians over his son's company, Scomi, in the Aug 7 TV3 interview failed to stand up to close examination.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang described Abdullah's claim that he was right in saying Scomi did not get a leg up from the government in its business dealings as "very self-serving and without credibility".

On Friday, Abdullah argued that the report which he requested from Scomi had vindicated him of charges of nepotism involving his son Kamaluddin Abdullah, one of Malaysia's richest men and major owner of the fledging oil and gas services company.

The prime minister conceded that Scomi did indeed get government contracts - all through open tenders.

The following is the transcript of the TV3's question relating to whether Scomi had obtained government contracts.

Question: In your capacity as the finance minister, has his (Kamaluddin's) company obtained government tenders?

Abdullah: No, not at all. To my knowledge, he has not received any. He does not manage the business and is only the major shareholder, and had made a move to buy a Singapore company with 188 ships to transport coal.

Lim said that based on this answer, Abdullah had misled Malaysians over the Scomi issue.

"Abdullah's answer was very specific and definitive - that Kamaluddin and Scomi Group had not 'obtained government tenders'," said Lim.

A week ago, Abdullah ordered Scomi to file a report after receiving a letter which accused him of lying about the matter during the TV3 interview.

Abdullah added that he would apologise to the people if he had inadvertently erred when he spoke on the matter.

But two days after receiving the report from Scomi, Abdullah claimed that what he "had said about the company was correct".

"No project had been given to Scomi with my knowledge. I have not personally made any kind of decision to give any favours or concessions or for that matter any projects (to Scomi)," Abdullah said.

However, Lim said that the Scomi report must be subjected to scrutiny.

He added that both Parliament and the public should be allowed to verify the report, which Abdullah now claims showed his 38-year-old son Kamaluddin did not take advantage of their relationship to gain lucrative government contracts.

Pak Lah's choice of words

Lim also accused the premier of trying to claim ignorance on decisions taken by the Finance Ministry regarding contracts and projects granted to Scomi even though he is the finance minister.

"He should know that under the principle of ministerial responsibility, no minister can disclaim responsibility for any decision taken by the ministry, regardless of whether the minister has personal knowledge or otherwise of the matter," said Lim, who was unimpressed with Abdullah's choice of words.

"He cannot resort to the simple expedient of 'washing his hands' whether on the ground of ignorance or that he had not 'personally given any kind of permission to grant favours or, for that matter, projects to Kamaluddin and Scomi, so long as they come within the purview and jurisdiction of the Finance Ministry."

Lim added that Abdullah also owes the public an explanation regarding his denial during the interview that no Malaysian company was controlled by a foreign company.

Three weeks after the interview, the government's investment arm Khazanah Nasional announced that it would ' buy back ' shares of healthcare giant Pantai Holdings from Singaporean company Parkways Holdings.

Khazanah will pay RM394.9 million for the controlling stake, which Parkway bought for RM311.6 million in November last year, to ensure that the company remain in local hands.

"There were also other inaccurate information which the prime minister made in the interview, as in his defence of the highly controversial multi-million ringgit loan-and-acquisition of shares of ECM Libra by his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin."

Soon after the TV3 interview, Khairy announced that he had sold his stake in the boutique investment services bank.