Najib: Cops took statement from Rosmah

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today denied that his wife, Rosmah Mansor, was involved in the killing of Altantuya Shaariibuu as claimed by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin.

Najib also said Rosmah had been called in by the police to have her statement recorded following fresh allegations made by Raja Petra in his statutory declaration last Wednesday.“Yes, my wife has given her statement.

Everybody will make their statement including the prime minister (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi),” he told a press conference in Parliament after a chairing a cabinet committee meeting on the illegal immigrants in Sabah.He however did not disclose when her statement had been recorded.

Najib and Rosmah have repeatedly denied involvement in the high-profile murder, describing these as nothing more than slander and a concocted story.Asked about the allegations again at today’s press conference, the deputy premier’s immediate response was: “Why are you (media) interested in garbage?”“Everything that is written and claimed is a total lie and fabricated. It’s total garbage. That’s all I want to say, it’s total garbage,” he said.

Asked to comment on the motive behind Raja Petra’s move, Najib replied: “I have no other conclusion except (to say that this) is a desperate and pathetic attempt to discredit and taint my political image.”On whether it might be politically-motivated, he said: “I can’t see any other reason.”The deputy premier welcomed the police probe and hoped that it will be concluded soon.

Raja Petra’s claims

Raja Petra has alleged that Rosmah was among three individuals who were at the scene when the Mongolian national was murdered on Oct 19, 2006.

He named the two others as acting colonel Aziz Buyong, who is described as ‘a C4 expert’ and the latter’s wife, known only as Norhayati, who is also said to be Rosmah’s aide de camp.

Raja Petra further alleged that Abdullah, his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin and a Malay ruler have been briefed on the matter and are fully aware of the allegation against Rosmah.

He alleged that Abdullah has handed over a written report from military intelligence on the matter to Khairy for "safekeeping".

Abdullah denied yesterday that he had received any military intelligence report over Rosmah’s alleged involvement in the murder, as claimed by Raja Petra in the legal document.Altantuya's body is alleged to have been blown up with C4 explosives at a secondary forest in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam.

Raja Petra has said he is ready to be investigated after the police launched a probe on his claims. Under Section 203 of the Penal Code, he could be charged with spreading false information and is liable, upon conviction, of being jailed up to two years or fined or both.He has already been charged with sedition over an earlier article he wrote on his Malaysia Today website, linking Najib and Rosmah to the murder. If convicted, he faces three years in jail.

Police visited Khairy too

Meanwhile, Umno Youth deputy chief and Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin said the police have also recorded a statement from him last night in the ongoing probe into Raja Petra's claims."I have told the police that I never received any military intelligence report from the prime minister or any other party," he said on the claim that he was holding the report for "safekeeping"."

I told the police that the statutory declaration, its content and allegations against me were made in bad faith," he told a press conference at the Parliament lobby this afternoon.According to him, the statement was recorded at Putrajaya last night and the process lasted about an hour.

Khairy said he will discuss with his lawyer whether to take action against Raja Petra."I don't know what his motive is but this matter is based on hearsay and sources. (However,) it was turned into a statutory declaration straightaway (when it involves) such a sensitive case, there is no truth."Definitely when there is no truth, it tarnishes my credibility.

I see this action as mala fide," said Khairy, whose name was being implicated in the high-profile murder case for the first time.Asked whether he was surprised with the claim, he answered: "Well, from the publisher of The Khairy Chronicle, I'm not surprised."When asked whether the police have also recorded a statement from his father-in-law Abdullah, Khairy said the question should be directed to the premier.Khairy Chronicle refers to a long-running series published in Raja Petra's Malaysia Today in the rise of Khairy.

Judge hits back at 'devil incarnate' Mahathir

High Court judge Ian Chin, who two weeks ago make stunning allegations that he was threatened by Dr Mahathir Mohamad for a number of high-profile cases, today fired another stinging salvo at the former prime minister.

“...Dr Mahathir for what he had done and for what he is trying to do is a devil incarnate but to those who had suffered under his hands, even that description my be rather complimentary,” said Chin in open court during a hearing of an election petition in Sibu, Sarawak, this afternoon. Mahathir had denied issuing a ‘thinly-veiled threat’ at a 1997 judges conference that they would be sacked if they decided unfavourably against his government.

Chin, a High Court judge for Sabah and Sarawak, said he had also been sent to an indoctrination 'boot camp' where participants were pressured into making pro-government decisions.While Mahathir conceded the existence of such ‘work camps’, he said these were held for participants to learn about Malaysia’s political system, the Barisan Nasional concept, ethics and moral values and democracy.

Chin also took offence with Mahathir in stating that there was a police report made against the judge for hiding his past when hearing a certain case.“Dr Mahathir, by waving the supposed police report the way he did, lent support to the general held view that this prime minister kept a docket on everyone useful but with a skeleton in their cupboard so that he can manipulate then on pain of disclosing the skeleton,” he said in a lengthy defence against the ex-PM’s remarks.

“I thought only the Stasi of the then communist East Germany do such a thing but then it was done for the benefit of the state not for an individual.“In my view, he is trying to exploit this general belief to wave that supposed police report to get the public to believe that I have committed something unlawful which he is privy to and which the public is not unaware so that my integrity could be put under suspicion to make what I have revealed unbelievable.

“Let me declare to the public that I am as clean as a whistle and my life is an open book.”

Boot camp: Judge told to carry egg

Chin also argued that his shocking revelations on the state of judiciary during Mahathir’s times was not because he was passed over for promotion. He tendered a number of letters he wrote to two different chief justices in which he told them that his wife wanted to return to Kota Kinabalu.

“Since I do not want promotion before, now or in the future nor any appointment after my retirement, what do I get out of all this knowing very well that I will be the target for vilification?“It is this. I must be able to sleep well after I retired knowing that I have done all I can, like all the crucified judges before me, to tell Malaysians the danger they are in regarding the state of the judiciary.”

Chin revealed more about the boot camp he attended as a judge and the humiliation which participants were forced into.“...You surrendered your wallet, your air ticket and handphone when you checked into the camp and you cannot go anywhere as it is in an isolated place and you cannot leave for anywhere as there is no transport.

"You are totally cut off from the outside world, with no newspapers or television and with selected news conveyed to you at the assembly for the purpose of sampling reaction such as the news that a certain party had won a by-election which elicited some applause from some young officers but they earned the rebuke of a High Court judge as that was an improper display of partisanship.

He said the objective of the boot camp was to “make us take orders” and a “junior officer was made our leader from whom we have to take orders from and one Sessions Court judge who disagreed with that was made to publicly apologise on a podium to his junior officer leader”.

“Another method employed was to chisel away the view we held of how independent we should be in our job as High Court judges and this they did by punishing or humiliating a High Court judge by making him carry a brick all the time after he broke the egg which each of us must carry wherever we went, including marching.“All these were, in my view, for the purpose of softening us to take order for the benefit of the government, meaning Dr Mahathir.”

Mahathir ‘lied about me absconding’

Chin also accused Mahathir of lying when the former premier alluded to the fact he “absconded” from the camp.“But two did leave, one because of illness and the other the wife’s illness. Everyone who was not otherwise sick had to remain and we all did save for the duo; with each given a certificate after the end of stay.“That Dr Mahathir should even resort to lying about me absconding from the camp speaks volume for the character of such person; he is lying by resorting to repeating it as if it is the truth.

“This is the same prime minister who lied to the world that (former deputy premier) Anwar Ibrahim could have deliberately hurt himself when the latter appeared with the black eye. He is also waving a police report perhaps for the purpose of intimidating me or to blacken me in the eyes of the public.”

Chin made the comment today during his hearing of the election petition filed by DAP candidate Wong Hua She, who wanted the court to declare the result of the Sarikei parliamentary contest on March 8 ‘null and void’.BN candidate Ding Kuong Hing had won the seat with a slim majority of 51 votes in the election three months ago.

The hearing continues tomorrow.

Media boycott over Parliament access

More than 100 journalists are staging a boycott after the Parliament administration cut media access to the building’s lobby and barricaded the area.

In protest, journalists from all print, online and electronic media have decided to only cover the proceedings in the Dewan Rakyat and boycott all press conferences or events held outside of the chamber.The journalists were outraged and stunned by the latest ruling which has resulted in the entire lobby being cordoned off, apparently on security grounds.Security guards were stationed in the area to ensure the journalists would not enter the ‘prohibited area’, which has been fenced off with a red-tape barrier.

The barricades have restricted the journalists from moving around freely in the lobby to interview parliamentarians.The lobby is used by MPs as a meeting point and they often call impromptu press conferences in the area.This is the first time that Parliament has enforced such a ruling, and so far there has not been any official explanation for the unprecedented move.

Expect fewer reports from journalistsThis ruling came in the wake of another controversial decision setting a limit on the number of journalists covering Parliament.Last Friday, the Parliament administration issued a notice to all media organisations informing them that they could only send no more than five journalists to cover the ongoing session. [See full letter]The letter explained that the decision was due to concern over security.This has upset a number big media companies which have deployed up to a dozen of reporters each, including editors, in Parliament.

After the March 8 election where the ruling BN suffered its worst electoral outing, an average of 100 journalists have been covering the daily parliamentary proceedings. This was in light of a dramatic increase in opposition MPs as well as the unusual presence of almost all ministers or deputies in the House.

English-language daily Star assistant news editor Lee Yuk Peng slammed the ruling, saying that the journalists should be able to move freely in Parliament to perform their duties.“We should be the last group to be linked with security concerns,” said Lee, who started covering the parliament beat in 1997.“(The impact is) there will be fewer stories. It takes two hands to clap - many ministers can’t wait to talk to the journalists or give them stories,” she added.

Chinese daily Nanyang Siang Pau journalist Kam Choy Wan pointed out that newspapers have sent more reporters to cover Parliament to ensure the debate in the House is given due prominence.“This ruling definitely affected our job as it is our duty as journalists to approach government leaders in order to get their comments on current issues or government policies.

“The Parliament administrators are going after the wrong target (if the concern is over security),” she added.Even MPs not happy with the banMeanwhile, the matter was also brought up by opposition MPs in the House who protested the ruling and argued that this was tantamount to a clampdown on press freedom.

"There is no justification whatsoever for restricting reporters to a small corner as if they pose a grave danger to security and a threat to the safety of parliamentarians," said Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan) in the House.

"No MP has ever suffered personal injury or threats from reporters accredited to cover the Parliament," he said.

"By imposing such restrictions merely for the personal comfort and conveniences of certain individuals would contravene the basic spirit of democracy and respect the sanctity of Parliament where reporters can carry out their duties to communicate debate on policy in an accurate and professional manner," he added.Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) also joined his son in calling for the ban to be withdrawn.“The journalists have been treated as wild and dangerous animals that so much so they have to be caged,” said the veteran politician, adding that the ruling will become a laughing stock in the eyes of the world.Deputy speaker Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who was presiding over the parliamentary sitting this morning, said the decision had been made by the speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia and another deputy speaker Ronald Kiandee collectively. He added that based on his visits to parliaments abroad such as in the United Kingdom and Australia, he had never seen a parliament so “chaotic” and “swarmed with reporters” as the one in Malaysia.

BN MPs 'tear down' barricades

However, the decision did not go down well with even government parliamentarians.At about 2.15pm, several backbenchers led by Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) took direct action in physically removing the barricadesThe journalists however decided to continue the boycott since there was no official revocation of the ruling from the Parliament administration.When the matter was brought up again by Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) during the afternoon debate, speaker Pandikar Amin stood his ground and ticked off the opposition MPs for raising the issue.“Since when Bagan (Guan Eng) and Batu Gajah (Fong) are interested to become the editors?” he asked. “How do we know whether those showing the press tag are indeed journalists?”

According to the speaker, he is awaiting a response from media organisations over his ‘enquiry’ on whether it was appropriate to enforce the ‘five journalists only’ rule.Pandikar Amin said he will make a final decision after receiving feedback from the media.However, according to a copy of the notice sent to media organisations last week, it was clearly stated that the Parliament “has decided” that each paper could only send five journalists.Apart from journalists, aides and press secretaries to MPs have also been subjected to stringent security rule - they are no longer allowed to distribute their bosses’ press statements in the media room, where journalists use to file their reports.

Only MPs will be allowed to do so, according to Guan Eng’s aide Lim Swee Kuan who was asked to leave the media room by security personnel around noon today.PM, DPM, opposition functions affectedThe protest by the journalists has affected scheduled press conferences called by the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Pakatan Rakyat MPs from Kuala Lumpur.Abdullah was slated to chair a cabinet committee meeting on the competitiveness of palm oil in Parliament while Najib will chair two meetings - one of which is the Umno management committee meeting.Whereas the Pakatan MPs from Kuala Lumpur had planned to call a press conference on the Draft KL City Plan.

However, all the press conferences were boycotted by journalists. Only state-owned news agency Bernama sent its representatives to cover the events.On hearing the ban, the Pakatan MPs went to the media centre for their press conference but were told by journalists they would not be reporting anything apart from the debates in the House’s chamber.A scheduled launching of the official government’s weblog by Information Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek, initially slated for tomorrow at Parliament, has been postponed to another date as a result of the boycott.Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, when asked, refused to comment.“

I am only the intermediary between the executives and the legislature. I’m not involved in this,” said the normally outspoken minister who oversees parliamentary affairs.

NUJ: Ruling puzzling

Meanwhile the National Union of Journalists called for media restriction to be lifted and freedom of movement of journalists on Parliament beat restored.NUJ Norila Mohd Daud said the union viewed the restriction as a move that would be counterproductive, and leading to the media not being able to give full coverage of the Parliament."

The action is unprecedented and appears to be an affront which will hinder journalists and media practitioners from carrying out their journalistic duties," she said in a statement today.Norila said the ruling appeared puzzling and irrational as "Parliament is the symbol of democracy".

Grand Saga withdraws injunction application

KUALA LUMPUR: Highway concessionaire Grand Saga Sdn Bhd withdrew its application for an injunction to stop the removal of barricades it built at the controversial Bandar Mahkota Cheras intersection.

Counsel Tharminder Singh informed the High Court here of his client’s instructions to withdraw the application, saying the matter had become academic.

However, the main suit against Bandar Mahkota Cheras Open Access Road Committee chairman Tan Boon Wah, Selangor Local Government, Research and Development executive councillor Ronnie Liu and the Kajang Municipal Council — in which the plaintiff is seeking a permanent injunction as well as damages — is still pending.

The defendants had no objections to the withdrawal.

Liu’s counsel N.S. Guok said the plaintiff had yet to serve the sealed copy of the suit to the defendants.

Justice Abdul Wahab Patail struck out the application for the interim injunction with no order as to costs.

The intersection made headlines when the public demolished the barricades built by Grand Saga four times this year. On May 30, the Cabinet ordered Grand Saga to tear down the barrier and to keep the access road leading to the highway open, at least until the disposal of the suit between the concessionaire and Narajaya Sdn Bhd, the developer of Bandar Mahkota Cheras.

Karpal to AG: Probe fresh Altantuya claims

Veteran DAP politician and lawyer Karpal Singh wants Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail to immediately initiate an investigation into the fresh explosive allegations over the Altantuya Shaaribuu murder.

Speaking at a press conference held at his office in Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur today, Karpal said that he will try and arrange a meeting with Gani at his office in Putrajaya tomorrow morning to push for a probe."If we cannot see him, we will try and meet with senior deputy public prosecutor Abdul Majid Hamzah (lead prosecutor in the Altantuya murder case) to discuss the matter," added Karpal.

The meeting arrangement would be done on behalf of Dr Shariibuu Setev, Altantuya's father, in light of the recent explosive allegations made by prominent blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin."I also want to see the prominent woman mentioned in the statutory declaration. This allegation is a very serious one and I hope that an investigation be carried out," said Shaariibu who was also present at the press conference.A statutory declaration signed by Raja Petra on June 18 had implicated Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, his deputy Najib Abdul Razak and wife Rosmah Mansor in the case.

Rosmah present at murder scene

In his two-page statutory declaration, Raja Petra alleged that Rosmah was among three individuals who were at the scene when Altantuya was murdered on Oct 19, 2006.He named the two other individuals as acting colonel Aziz Buyong, who is described as ‘a C4 expert' and the latter's wife, known only as Norhayati, who is also said to be Rosmah's aide de campRaja Petra further alleged that Abdullah, his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin and a Malay Ruler have been briefed on the matter and are fully aware of the allegation against Rosmah.He alleged that Abdullah has handed over a written report from military intelligence on the matter to Khairy for "safekeeping".

Shaaribu when asked by the press if he thought that there were any truths to the allegations, calmly answered that it was "not a case of a one plus one equals two", adding that he could not give any answer but stressed the importance of investigating into the allegations.

Karpal also backed Shaariibu's views and said that the statutory declarations made by Raja Petra in the High Court on June 18 was extremely serious and ought to be thoroughly investigated."The fact that the prosecution has closed its case in the Altantuya trial is no bar to further investigations being conducted following the disclosures,"

Father: Loss of daughter is like a tsunami

The Altantuya prosecution team after 124 days of trial and 4,000 pages of type-written notes had finally closed its case yesterday with the court fixing July 23 as submission date.Raja Petra's allegations also prompted Karpal's fellow DAP politician Lim Kit Siang to move a motion to debate the matter in Parliament today but was rejected by the House Speaker Pandikar Mulia Amin.Najib and his wife have always dismissed claims of their links to Altantuya.

Shaariibu commenting on the matter said that he hopes justice will be served and that the Mongolian government will be informed of the updates on the case."There is a saying in Mongolia, ‘no matter what you hide, it will surface and people will know'. God is looking upon us and the truth will come out," he said while adding that he will raise the matter with the international human rights community as well.

Shaariibuu also said that the stress of the loss of his daughter was "like a tsunami" to him and that he was still coping with the loss of his daughter."'Altan' in Mongolia means gold.

I have lost the gold in my life and so have her two children," added Shaariibuu.Altantuya's body is alleged to have been blown up with C4 explosives at a secondary forest in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam.

Two police special operations force personnel and political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda have claimed trial to the murder of the Mongolian national.They face the death sentence should they be found guilty.

Khairy riles up Pakatan MPs

In his speech debating the motion, Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) took the opportunity not only to shoot down the points raised by Pakatan Rakyat MPs but to take jabs at component party PKR's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) had earlier cited the allegation that the government had used Petronas' profits to save Bumiputera Bank.Petronas had also been made to bail out shipping company Konsortium Perkapalan Bhd (KPB), in which former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's son Mirzan had a majority stake, Azmin claimed.

Khairy, however, turned the tables on PKR by noting that Anwar was the finance minister during the KPB bailout."Don't you know he was also part of the government back then? Of course, he knew where the money went," said Khairy."When he got sacked, (only) now he's speaking up. What a hypocrite!" added Khairy, resulting in several minutes of pandemonium in the House.Describing Pakatan MPs' proposals in relation to Petronas as "simplistic and childish", he did not let up but upped the ante in levelling his attacks on Anwar.

Accusing him of being a "puppet" for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he concluded by saying that Pakatan should ask the latter for help."(Perhaps) they should ask for International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s help as they are "international loan shark and Anwar is a puppet for them," said Khairy,It led to several minutes of pandemonium as Pakatan MPs stood up in protest and loudly, but vainly, demanded a retraction.

Shahrir's motion: 129 yes, 78 no

The government today won a crucial vote in Parliament supporting its fuel price hike, which the opposition had hoped to turn it into a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Abdul Samad kicked off the debate by tabling the motion this morning seeking support for, among others, the slashing of oil subsidies.

Coming on the heels of the 40 percent oil hike announced on June 4, the motion was hotly debated by members of parliament on both sides of the House before it went for a vote.

There are no surprises when it was put to vote at 7.10pm after six hours of debate - no BN parliamentarians voted against the government.The final result: 129 in favour, 78 against. The motion was passed.

BN has a total of 140 members - including two Dewan Rakyat deputy speakers - in the House, of which eleven were absent today from voting while the Pakatan Rakyat has a total of 82 MPs.Among the BN absentees were the two MPs from Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp), a coalition member that dropped a bombshell last week when it called for the no-confidence vote. They were absent from Parliament after saying they had received threats.

Met at the lobby later, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said that the success of the motion indicated that BN backbenchers remained united."The opposition wanted to turn this into a motion of no-confidence against the prime minister but BN stayed united. There is no question of BN MPs wanting to jump to the other side," he told reporters.

The 11 BN absenteesPKR vice president and Gombak MP Azmin Ali however claimed that it was a "major success" for the opposition alliance."(BN) ‘lost' 11 votes. I know because some of them contacted me and said they will not be physically present as they don't want to be part of the motion," claimed Azmin.Of the 11 BN MPs who were not present, three were Sabahan MPs - Chua Soon Bui (Sapp-Tawau) and Eric Enchin Majimbun (Sapp-Sepanggar), as well as Raime Unggi (Umno-Tenom).Two Sarawakian MPs - James Dawos Mamit (PBB-Mambong) and Tiong Thai King (Supp-Lanang) were also absent.The remaining were ministers Zulhasnan Rafique (Umno-Setiawangsa), Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (Umno-Bagan Datoh) and Dr Rais Yatim (Umno-Jelebu), ex-ministers Rafidah Aziz (Umno-Kuala Kangsar) and Radzi Sheikh Ahmad (Umno-Kangar), and ex-deputy minister Tengku Azlan Abu Bakar (Umno-Jerantut),On the Pakatan's front, those who could not make it in time for the voting were Nurul Izzah Anwar (PKR-Lembah Pantai), Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong) and Chow Kon Yeow (DAP-Tanjong). The fourth Pakatan MP who was not present could not be ascertained immediately.

Shahrir moved the motion

Earlier in the day, the government's motion moved by Shahrir was the first order of business on the first day of the second parliamentary sitting after a three-week break.

The motion stated that the price increases were part of "a global phenomenon outside the control of the government" and cannot be delayed due to the continuously rising prices globally of oil.The restructuring of oil and gas subsidies was aimed at lessening their impact on the national economy, relieving the burden on the government's financial position, and allocating subsidies more fairly to those in need, said Shahrir.

"For example, pumped petrol and diesel subsidies are expected to increase from RM8.8 billion in 2007 to RM27 billion in 2008. This is a heavy burden that the government can no longer bear," said Shahrir in his speech.He also noted that while Petronas' contributions to the government was 35 percent of the government's budget for 2007, its subsidies to the energy and non-energy sectors came up to RM15.6 billion.Despite the increasing challenges at the global environment, the government has resolved to take steps to increase economic growth and "advance the national development agenda", he added.

Reject demonstrations, protests

Despite knowing the move to increase oil and diesel prices will be an unpopular move, the government has acted responsibly by not passing that responsibility to future generations, he added.Shahrir then reiterated some of the steps taken by the government to alleviate the problems arising from dearer oil and diesel prices - cash rebates for those with low-capacity cars and motorcycles, the maintenance of diesel prices for public transport operators with ‘fleetcards' as well as electricity tariffs for households consuming less than RM43.60 worth of electricity per month.

Shahrir also said that while businesses should not worsen the situation by arbitrarily raising the prices of their goods or services to the detriment of the people, the people should reject demonstrations and public protests over the crisis of inflation."Demonstrations and protests will not benefit anybody, but will only erode confidence if economic activities and foreign investments are hindered as a result of the ensuing instability."Aware of the need to prepare in the event of a future economic recession, the government was also taking steps towards prudent spending and "calls on all quarters and the public at large to take the same steps", said Shahrir.

Giving APs to everyone

Supporting the motion, Razali Ibrahim (BN-Muar) commended the government for re-structuring its subsidies to ensure it efficiently and effectively reached the poor and others who qualified as opposed to high-income earners and foreigners.He however suggested some changes in policies, such as in the issuance of Approved Permits (APs) as to benefit the people in general instead of private individuals.He proposed that the APs are issued to governmental agencies as the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB), the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and governmental investment firm Permodalan Nasional Bhd to be redistributed equally.Opposing the motion, Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan) said the government had resulted in Malaysia gaining the dubious reputation of having increased fuel prices by more than any other government.Lim also questioned the government's seriousness in cutting costs when national petroleum firm Petronas continued to give as much as RM10 billion in subsidies to independent power producers (IPP)."The government has guaranteed billions of ringgit in profit to IPPs while the people continue to suffer," said Lim.He also said Petronas' profits of more than RM80 billion was more than enough to channel as much as RM6,000 for every household in Malaysia to ease their burdens as a result of the price hike