He said Proton was in “serious financial trouble.”
In a series of postings on Twitter on Friday, Rahman said: “Recently billions pumped into MAS. Now Proton. Interestingly, they have one glaring denominator. What or who? Your guess is as good as mine.”
Proton, the national car company, is regarded as Dr Mahathir’s brain child. The government sold its 42.74 per cent controlling stake in Proton to motor manufacturer DRB-Hicom Bhd for RM1.2 billion in 2012.
Last month, it was reported that there was a question mark over a request by DRB-Hicom for a loan of RM1.5 billion from the Federal Government, and whether it had similarly made a request in 2014 for RM1.7 billion.
A Singapore press report noted that the loan request would meet difficulty in view of Dr Mahathir’s year-long campaign to oust Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Dr Mahathir resigned from Umno in February. His position as adviser to Petronas was then terminated by the government after which he resigned as Proton chairman last week, and from Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Langkawi Development Authority and the Tioman Island Development Authority.
Rahman said that RM13.9 billion had been pumped into Proton since 1983. “Horror stories” about Dr Mahathir’s direct interference and “dictatorial leadership style” in Proton could now be seen,” he said.
He urged Proton’s shareholders and board of directors to be brave in tackling “any legacy problems left by the ex-chairman.”
In a jibe at Dr Mahatir’s urging Umno members not to be “deaf, dumb and blind”, Abdul Rahman said “Proton must be serious and not be afraid to unshackle the culture of ‘deaf, dumb and blind’ in Proton.”
“It’s sad to see some get all riled up when relevant questions are posed at Tun,” he said.
DRB-Hicom produces Perodua cars and manufactures and assembles other makes of passenger cars, motorcycles, commercial vehicles and produces automotive components.
Proton’s dominant share of the motor market has crashed to only 17.4 per cent last year, compared to 32 per cent for Perodua. Two foreign makes, Toyota (15.3 per cent) and Honda (11.6 per cent) are close behind.