Embattled Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz appears destined to lose her position amid a row over the controversial car import scheme, former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim said today.

"I think she (Rafidah) has a lot to answer. I don't think it is tenable for her to remain in that seat," Anwar told reporters.

Anwar criticised the way that approved permits (APs) for car imports, part of an affirmative action scheme designed to boost the ethnic Malay business community, appreared to been distributed to a select few.

"We have seen blatant abuse, corruption ... enriching the few - family and crony members. And the extent of this abuse, seen from the issuance of APs, is not only shocking but a clear betrayal of the trust of the Malays," he said.

However, he added that he did not want the issue of Rafidah's fate to "deflect our focus from the central issue of the blatant abuse of power and corruption."

The future of Rafidah, one of the longest-serving members of the cabinet with 25 years experience, has been in question amid the wrangle over APs which has seen her reduced to tears and heckled and jeered by her own party.

The row erupted when Rafidah attacked Proton cars as "shoddy" and urged the national carmaker to become more competitive in order to face a newly deregulated environment.

Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who launched the national car scheme in the 1980s, responded angrily and said the AP system was to blame for the automaker's woes by flooding the market with cut priced imports.

On medical leave

Rafidah, once known as Malaysia's "Iron Lady" and a close ally of Mahathir when he was in power, sobbed publicly when asked if she would apologise to the veteran leader.

She fuelled speculation about her future this week by skipping Wednesday's cabinet meeting where she was due to provide some answers on the controversy. She reportedly flew to the Australian city of Perth on medical leave.

The list of AP recipients, long kept secret, was released by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's office last month, fuelling rumours of cronyism.

The list highlighted four men, including two former senior officials at Rafidah's trade ministry, who together received more than 28,000 of the 67,158 AP permits issued this year alone.

Anwar said it was time to end the economic policies that have benefited the country's majority ethnic Malays for over three decades, describing them as "obsolete" and prone to "clear abuse and corruption."