Minister in Malaysia denies fault
The Associated Press
July 20, 2005

KUALA LUMPUR Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz of Malaysia on Tuesday denied wrongdoing in issuing tens of thousands of special permits to import cars, a case that has shed light on some sensitive topics here.
 
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's office issued a list late Monday of the recipients of the permits since they were started in 1970 as a way to help ethnic Malays, who were lagging behind ethnic Chinese economically.
 
"I have no relations, direct or indirect with any holders" of the permits, Rafidah, whose ministry issues the permits, told a news conference.
 
The list includes four businessmen, including two former senior officials at the Trade Ministry, who together received more than 28,000 of the 67,158 permits issued this year alone. Permits allow the import of vehicles at special tax rates.
 
The former leader of Malaysia, Mahathir bin Mohamad, long a champion of the national car maker Proton, has accused Rafidah of issuing the import licenses indiscriminately and demanded that the government disclose the names of the license holders, saying an influx of foreign cars is hurting Proton's sales.
 
The permits are supposedly to be given to companies that are at least 70 percent owned by "bumiputras," which refers to ethnic Malays and other indigenous groups.

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