The cabinet should direct International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz to reveal the full list of approved permits (APs) issued over the past 18 years, said Parliamentary Leader Lim Kit Siang.

In a statement today, he said the move would underline the cabinet's commitment to higher standards of accountability and transparency.

"Let this be the first fruit of the government's political will for transparency and good governance to emerge from the 56th Umno general assembly," he said, noting that Rafidah had failed to provide a full and satisfactory explanation about the scandal.

"She acted most irresponsibly in dodging the controversy of APs, Proton and the national car industry, (by) seeking to pass the buck to premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who did not take the bait," he said.

He said Rafidah maintained that there was nothing wrong with the issue, although this openly contradicted Abdullah's interview with Mingguan Malaysia last Sunday, during which he pledged to act against the abuse of Aps.

Lim said the veteran minister also failed the new test of accountability and transparency by not revealing the full list of APs issued since 1987.

He said one of the four 'AP Kings of Kings' Azzuddin Ahmad has denied that he even holds a single AP.

"How has Azzuddin's name appeared in the past four years in Miti (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) records?..Rafidah's silence on Azzuddin's denial is not a good example of her accountability and transparency," he said.

In the APs list disclosed lat week, Azzuddin, Nasimuddin SM Amin, Syed Azman Syed Ibrahim and Mohd Haniff Abdul Aziz were said to hold 42.1% or 28,283 of the 67,158 APs issued this year.

'Seek testimony'

Lim said the public is entitled to know how many 'Open APs' have been issued to Naza Konsortium Sdn Bhd since 1988 and the total number of 'Franchise APs' distributed since 1997.

"Rafidah's silence on these matters are again a adverse reflection on her commitment to accountability, transparency and good governance," he said.

He also questioned why a sizable number of companies had been given 'Open APs' in 1987 and 1988, compared to those over the previous 17 years from 1970.

"Furthermore, how was one company given 'Open APs' in 1989 when Rafidah said she had frozen the issuance (of this) in 1988?"

Lim also urged the government to set up a parliamentary select committee on international trade and industry to investigate the AP issues in depth.

He said the select committee should not confine its scope to the issue of APs, but should examine the whole question of the national automotive policy.

"It should call not only the Proton CEO Tengku Mahaleel Ariff, but also his predecessor Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh and other players in the automotive industry to testify," he said.

He said the committee is necessary as the Public Accounts Committee is not prepared to conduct a full-scale investigation.