KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 — An agreement between Malaysian national carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd and a little-known Indonesian firm last week is prompting the republic’s media to question the latter’s credentials as well as Proton’s decision to partner it.

At the centre of the controversy is PT Adiperkasa Citra Lestari (ACL) headed by retired army general Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono, whose status as a known political supporter of President Joko Widodo has forced Jakarta to insist that the deal is strictly business-to-business with no taxpayers’ money involved.

“Hendropriyono’s ACL is too little known to be trusted by the Malaysian government to be teamed up on such a huge project... It needs an absolute guarantee from Indonesian authorities to even get this far.

“Joko’s presence is the guarantee. If we have yet to call this an abuse of power then it is cronyism,” said an editorial run by daily Jakarta Globe yesterday.

The editorial also expressed doubt that public funds would not be involved, drawing comparisons to Malaysian former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s heavy support for Proton when it was first conceived.

“Out of dozen potential partners, why Proton? And why Hendro? Why, why... ” asked Democrat Party official and Islamic scholar Dr Ulil Abshar Abdalla in his Twitter account @ulil on Saturday.

“‘Fire your Indonesian maid’ incident is not yet over. And Mr Jokowi rewarded our neighbour with Proton deal. How generous he is!” he added latter, referring to a recent controversial advertisement by robotic vacuum dealer RoboVac Malaysia that blew up a storm in Indonesia.

On Friday, Proton signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ACL to further “business opportunities between both companies” in developing and manufacturing the proposed vehicle project.

The signing was witnessed by both Joko and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, together with Proton executive chairman Dr Mahathir, who mooted a Malaysian national car during his administration.

Wilgo Zainar, a member the Indonesian Parliament’s (DPR) Commission XI overseeing financial affairs warned Jakarta against giving Proton any tax incentives or duty exemptions, despite its role in the republic’s national car programme.

“A national car is not what the public needs,” Wilgo said in Indonesian news portal Tempo.co yesterday, urging Jakarta to prioritise agricultural infrastructure instead of transportation.

A major part of Indonesia’s concern over the joint-venture is a possible return to cronyism that characterised former president Suharto’s reign, during which he awarded his son Hutomo Mandala Putra with a national car project.

The short-lived project had rebadged South Korean Kia cars using the Indonesian-assembled Timor branded and started in 1996 before being shuttered in 1999 after Suharto fell from power.

Several Indonesians also reminded Joko of local carmaker Esemka based in Solo, Central Java. Joko had championed the brand when he was the mayor of Solo, and had used the marque as his official car.

“If I were Jokowi, I would bring #Esemka into the partnership with Proton towards the mobnas,” DPR leader Fahri Hamzah tweeted in his account @Fahrihamzah on Saturday, using the Indonesian portmanteau for “national car.”

“This moment can be used not only to start the mobnas project, but to appreciate the #Esemka comrades that have served.”

Indonesians also took to Twitter to express their dissatisfaction over the deal, coining the hashtag #tolakproton, which means “Reject Proton” in both countries’ language.

The Jakarta Globe had described Hendropriyono as a former intelligence chief “dogged by allegations of gross human rights abuses” and a known close associate to Megawati Soekarnoputri, Joko’s political patron and the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Proton, which was set up in 1983, became part of DRB-HICOM Bhd's automotive division in 2012 after the conglomerate paid RM1.2 billion to take over a majority stake held by sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional.

The takeover came amid a stretch of consistent losses for the national carmaker, widely attributed to its bloated operations and expensive acquisitions that failed to make much of a return on their investment, such as the purchase of ailing British sports car manufacturer Lotus.

The company brief included in the news release during the signing described ACL as a special purpose vehicle and "pioneer company" set up to build Indonesia's national car, and engages in investments in resources based on industrial infrastructure development.