Rafidah “On the run” from media, Cabinet, UMNO Supreme Council and now Parliament

My second blog from Parliament. It was another inglorious start for the day. My supplementary question on the first question by UMNO MP for Ledang, Hamim bin Samuri on “the number of shares owned by the VW company as Proton’s partner” ran into heavy water and then a stonewall.

In my supplementary question, I raised four issues:

*The absence of Minister for International Trade and Industry (MITI), Rafidah
Aziz from Parliament;

*The role of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as Proton Adviser;

*The status of Proton negotiations with Volkswagen AG (VW) and Hyundai-Sime Darby for equity/management stake;

*Future of Proton as national car as the time has come to end its 20-year subsidy at the expense of the Malaysian people for one generation.

I pointed out that negotiations on a strategic alliance had been going on between Proton and the German carmaker VW, the fourth largest player in the global automobile market, since last year but had been opposed by the Proton Adviser Dr. Mahathir.

As Dr. Mahathir recently seemed to have been by-passed in major decisions by the Proton management and Khazanah Nasional, the government investment arm which is the controlling shareholder of Proton with a 42.7% stake, I asked what is the actual position of the former Prime Minister as Proton Adviser, and if it is merely in name only, whether it should be regularized by removing him as Proton Adviser.

Asking for a status report of the negotiations which Proton had entered into with VW as well as Hyundai Motor Co., the world’s seventh largest carmaker which had teamed up with Sime Darby Bhd. to submit a proposal to Proton, I stressed that it is time for a decision to be taken about the future of Proton as a national car after 20 years of subsidy by the Malaysian people in the form of more expensive cars with poorer quality as compared to equivalent makes in other countries.

The Prime Minister had repeatedly called for an end to the subsidy mentality, saying last year that Proton cannot rely forever on handouts to stay afloat, which the national car had been doing for the past 20 years. MPs should be given a chance to specifically debate the future of Proton as a national car, whether Malaysians can afford a national car in the era of globalisation.

Deputy Speaker Lim Si Cheng intervened and advised the Parliamentary Secretary to the Finance Ministry, Dr. Hilmi Yahaya by remarking that he could choose one of the many questions which I had posed to answer.

I thought Hilmi would decline the Deputy Speaker’s unsolicited help and answer all the questions I had posed to demonstrate that he is no “puppet” but is in full mastery of the subject. Instead, he declined to answer all my questions, giving the excuse that I could debate the points raised in the forthcoming 2006 Budget meeting – which was sheer evasion and prevarication.

Protests by Opposition MPs that Hilmi had failed to answer my supplementary queries or even to choose just one as helpfully suggested by the Deputy Speaker came to nought!

The subject was revisited when BN MP Bernard S. Maraat (Pensiangan) asked Question No. 6 on whether the government has the “latest holistic approach” to strengthen the performance of our national automotive industry, Proton Holdings Bhd and its vendors.

Before the MITI Parliamentary Secretary, Dr. Tan Yee Kew started her answer, I stood up on a point of order to ask why the Minister for International Trade and Industry, Rafidah Aziz was not in Parliament to answer the question, when the APs controversy and the national automotive policy are among the top-priority national concerns. I quoted the famous statement by Rafidah during the thick of the APs imbroglio: “Of course I am prepared. We are a responsible Government and I am a responsible minister. There is nothing to hide.”

If Rafidah has nothing to hide, why is she not in Parliament to face MPs to discharge her duty of parliamentary accountability?

I observed that since the start of the APs storm, Rafidah had been on the run from the media, from Cabinet and now from Parliament – which is the height of irresponsibility especially as the Prime Minister had directed all Ministers to attend Parliamentary sittings and to answer questions and to reply to debates to set a good example of Ministerial responsibility.

Tan Yee Kew tried to defend her Minister, saying that Rafidah is overseas on official duties. I retorted as to why she could not have rescheduled her overseas commitments without clashing with her parliamentary duties as the parliamentary time-table was known to Cabinet Ministers at least a year in advance. Tan Yee Kew could give no answer.

When I was in the Parliament lobby, an UMNO front-bencher asked me: “Do you really expect her to come to Parliament when she does not even turn up for UMNO Supreme Council meetings?”

Sad, pathetic and tragic. Rafidah is on the run, from the media, Cabinet, UMNO Supreme Council – and now from Parliament!