DAIM YANG BERPERGIAN

Mahathir mengesahkan Daim mengambil cuti panjang selama dua bulan. Ini menyebabkan spekulasi hubungan dua insan yang amat berkuasa di Malaysia ini dalam keretakan.

Tidak diketahui apakah Daim akan bersara terus. Tetapi pemergiannya yang lama itu mungkin akan menyebabkan ekonomi negara yang sudah melemah itu semakin murung. Tetapi ia juga bermakna Mahathir kini menguasai SEPENUHnya ekonomi dan mengemudinya sendiri.

"Tanpa Daim, Mahathir akan mengambil keputusannya sendiri dalam semua segi.", ujar seorang CEO.

BSKL tidak berganjak dengan berita Daim itu tetapi diramalkan pelabur akan menjual pegangan di dalam syarikat yang ada kena mengena dengan Daim, khususnya Renong.

Menurut Mahathir, Daim bercuti kerana penat.

Setengah pegawai kerajaan berpendapat bantahan yang meningkat dari luar dan dalam Umno sendiri (seperti BBM) terhadap 'bailout' yang gila-gila serta pengagihan kontrak kepada kroni menyebabkan Mahathir menjauhkan diri dari Daim. (Dia tidak ingin aib itu mengena dirinya - Penterjemah)

PERSELISIHAN POLITIK DAN PERIBADI

Menurut mereka yang rapat dengan Daim, beliau kerap kali berselisih pendapat dengan Mahathir dalam menangani masalah ekonomi dan kroni.

Dalam satu majlis makan malam bersama pengarang akhbar media tempatan Februari lepas, Daim telah menempelak Mahathir kerana gagal melakarkan barisan pemimpin pengganti. Beliau juga begitu kritikal terhadap kepentingan bisnes anak-anak Mahathir.

Setengah pegawai Umno pula mengatakan Mahathir telah menunjukkan keberangannya terhadap Daim, terutamanya kerana kerap tidak hadir dalam mesyuarat MKT.

Petunjuk mutakhir ketegangan hubungan antara mereka berdua semakin teserlah lagi bila Mahathir melantik Abul Hassan sebagai penadihat khas ekonominya. Menurut analis langkah ini dilihat sebagai cubaan Mahathir untuk menjarakkan diri terlalu bergantung kepada Daim.

KISAH LAMA: APA KATA PEMERHATI POLITIK?

Business Times Singapore:

Menurut BTS, perselisihan antara mereka berdua sudah lama - lebih setahun dulu semasa rancangan penggabungan bank. Daim bercadang mahu mencantum 58 bank menjadi enam sahaja tetapi Mahathir menterbalikkannya kepada lebih 6 bank utama.

Lim Kit Siang:

Lim Kit Siang mendedahkan Ali Abul Hasan (ketika menjadi Gabenor Bank Negara) telah menyebelahi Mahathir ketika bertekak dalam isu bank tersebut dan mahu menambahkan dari 6 bank kepada 10. Daim dikatakan menamatkan khidmat Ali Abul Hasan di Bank Negara kerana itu untuk digantikan dengan Zeti.

Baru-baru ini Mahathir membentangkan pakej rangsangan RM3 bilion di LUAR parlimen sedangkan ia sepatutnya diumumkan oleh Menteri Kewangan, yakni Daim.

Begitu juga dengan pengurangan potongan KWSP dari 11% kepada 9% - ia diumumkan oleh Mahathir sedangkan itu tugas Daim.

Umum mengetahui Daim tidak hadir dalam pembentangan OPP3 baru-baru ini. Beliau juga sudah tidak muncul dalam mesyuarat MKT.

Rencana Financial Times menyebut tawaran Singtel untuk membeli time dotCom turut menjadi punca pergaduhan mereka berdua.

Financial Times, UK

Victor Savage:

"Pemergian Daim di saat kritikal sebegini adalah amat simbolik. Tidak diketahui siapa lagi yang bersama Mahathir. Tidak ada sesiapa pun tahu setepatnya apa yang berlaku"

Daim bersetuju untuk menjawat Menteri Kewangan semula setelah Anwar dipecat. Selepas pilihanraya dan Anwar dipenjara mulalah kroni diselamatkan dengan pelbagai cara samada melalui pembelian saham lebih mahal walaupun terbuka lebih murah (MAS Tajuddin), atau IPO dan underwriter (Time dotCom - Renong), atau terbuka (KWAP - CAHB/Renong) atau Bon (LRT - Renong).

Dr KS Jomo:

"Banyak orang merasa Daim sedang menunjukkan satu bentuk protes atau penyanggahan (dengan sedikit lainnya)"

KOMEN

MUSIBAH SEMAKIN TIBA

Malaysia kini sedang menuju satu musibah yang mungkin lebih dahsyat di hadapan kerana dua kunci terbesar ekspot negara - sektor elektronik dan minyak kelapa sawit - penyelamat sebenar (selain kenaikkkan harga minyak dunia) Malaysia semasa krisis ekonomi 1997-98 kini terancam akibat kawalan matawang dan kekurangan permintaan serta stokpail berlebihan. Yen pula dijangka merosot lagi kerana kemelut politik dan ekonomi Jepun dan formula baru mereka "quantitative easing" (David deRosa - Bloomberg) tetapi Malaysia tidak dapat menukar nilai RM sekarang kerana ekonomi begitu melemah dan tidak stabil. (Ariff - MIER)

Apa yang berlaku di Turki amat menakutkan pemimpin negara kerana akan huru-hara ekonomi jadinya jika kawalan matawang diapungkan segera. Kadar faedah yang rendah masakini menyebabkan setengah orang kaya Umno sendiri dan beberapa syarikat besar menyimpan wang mereka di luar negara sehingga rezab antarabangsa negara merosot sahaja. Lagipun, mereka yang kaya ini risau juga apa yang bakal terjadi kepada negara Malaysia yang dikerjakan oleh Mahathir yang sudah tidak betul bekerja.

SALAH SIAPA LAGI?

Kali ini Mahathir tidak dapat menyalahkan orang lain lagi kerana apa yang berlaku kini adalah kerana sentuhan dirinya sendiri juga. Satu persatu wawasannya dan kedegilannya sedang menjerut dirinya. Krisis Yen di Jepun dan Kemelesetan ekonomi Amerika sedang menguji kawalan matawangnya - dan memang bergoncang kita dibuatnya. Oleh kerana kesannya mungkin berlanjutan hingga akhir tahun ini, kita terpaksa bergantung harap kepada dana dalam negara - malangnya ini sudah ditebuk untuk kroni semua. KWSP sendiri tidak membayar bunga (dalam Star LRT) meminjam wang dari bank tempatan lebih setahun lamanya dan kini terpaksa menghadapi piket MTUC bulan Mei nanti sudah malu-malu muka. KWAP pula sudah rugi RM500 juta atas kertas sahaja. Alamat semakin papa dan kedanalah kita...... dalam keadaan sebegitu bergaya dengan menara dan projek raksaksa yang memecah rekod dunia.

Tetapi salah kita juga kerana tidak mendesak kerajaan secukupnya dan segarangnya. Jika rakyat membanjiri jalanraya - Mahathir sudah lama meninggalkan negara dan mungkin tidak akan kembali lagi selama-lamanya kerana menjadi saksipun dia sudah kecut bagai nak gila - inikan pula berada di kandang orang yang bersalah untuk dituduh memfitnah, membunuh, rasuah, menyeleweng dan mencuri dana negara.

-TJr Kapal Berita-

Rencana Sandaran:

The Asian Wall Street Journal
20th April 2001

Malaysian Finance Minister to Take
Unprecedented Two-Month Leave

By LESLIE LOPEZ
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin will take an unprecedented two-month leave of absence, fueling speculation of a widening rift between two of Malaysia's most powerful politicians.

Dr. Mahathir, speaking to reporters Thursday, declined to say whether Tun Daim's plans were a prelude to his retirement. But coming at a time when Malaysia's economy is bracing for a slowdown, the finance minister's long absence could cloud the country's economic outlook. That is because it will give 75-year-old Dr. Mahathir -- the strong-willed leader who has relied heavily on Tun Daim's advice throughout his almost 20 years in power -- sole control of Malaysia's economic management.

"Apart from Daim, there are very few who would dare challenge Mahathir over economic policy," says the chief executive of a publicly listed company who knows the two politicians well. "With Daim out of the way, Mahathir will very much decide on everything."

News of Tun Daim's long vacation plans hurt sentiment on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Thursday and dashed hopes of a rally on the back of a cut in U.S. interest rates overnight. The benchmark composite index barely moved, falling 0.01 point to 570.01 points. Brokers and investment analysts say that the Malaysian market -- especially companies linked to conglomerate Renong Bhd., which is closely associated with Tun Daim -- is likely to face selling pressure in coming days.

In remarks to reporters at a resort outside Kuala Lumpur, Dr. Mahathir confirmed growing speculation that Tun Daim planned to take a lengthy leave of absence. "Daim is tired," Dr. Mahathir said, adding that Entrepreneur Development Minister Nazri Aziz will stand in for the finance minister at cabinet meetings. When asked whether the vacation was a prelude to 63-year-old Tun Daim's leaving office, Dr. Mahathir replied: "If you ask me and I answer, he might get angry."

Sore Point

Tun Daim declined to be interviewed for this article, and aides to the finance minister dismissed talk that he is planning to retire. They noted that rumors of differences between Dr. Mahathir and Tun Daim have circulated in Kuala Lumpur for more than a year.

But several political analysts and businessmen close to the government believe that the likelihood of Tun Daim leaving Dr. Mahathir's cabinet appears to have increased. They note that the rift between the two men has deepened in recent months over policy issues. One sore point is Tun Daim's role in decisions affecting Malaysia's corporate sector.

Several analysts point out that Tun Daim, a longtime confidant of Dr. Mahathir who is serving his second stint as finance minister, may have become a political liability to his boss by supporting controversial rescues of politically connected Malaysian companies and businesspeople. State-backed bailouts of businessmen close to Tun Daim -- particularly the government's 1.8-billion-ringgit ($473.7-million) rescue of Malaysian Airline System and the purchase of shares in a telecommunications unit of the Renong group with public pension funds -- have angered many Malaysians. Among them are many ethnic Malays who have soured on Dr. Mahathir's government in recent years.

Several government officials also say grumbling within Dr. Mahathir's political party that Tun Daim has favored close business associates in the award of government contracts has grown louder in recent months, forcing Dr. Mahathir to distance himself from his finance minister.

"To win back support ... Mahathir knows he can't afford to ignore the sentiment on the ground about all these bailouts," says a senior politician in Dr. Mahathir's ruling United Malays National Organization, or UMNO.

Personal, Political Watershed

Should Dr. Mahathir and Tun Daim finally part company, it would mark a personal and political watershed for the two men. During Dr. Mahathir's nearly two decades in power, Tun Daim has been Malaysia's most-influential economic-policy maker and was long considered Dr. Mahathir's most-trusted aide. As UMNO treasurer since 1984, Tun Daim also collected and managed the political funds that helped keep the prime minister firmly in power. Tun Daim's clout expanded significantly after Dr. Mahathir sacked his onetime heir apparent and then-Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, accusing him of sexual misconduct. Dr. Mahathir then reinstalled Tun Daim -- who had served as finance minister from 1984 to 1991 -- in the finance portfolio.

Most Malaysian businessmen view Tun Daim as the second-most-powerful figure in the country because of his sweeping ministerial powers and his UMNO fund-raising role.

But over the past year or so, talk of a falling out between Tun Daim and Dr. Mahathir has spread. Such speculation has been periodically dismissed by UMNO officials. However, several people close to Tun Daim say that, in recent months, the finance minister has privately acknowledged having policy differences with Dr. Mahathir. During a private dinner with several editors from local news organizations in late February, for example, Tun Daim lamented over Malaysia's political malaise, which he blamed on Dr. Mahathir's failure to put a leadership succession in place. According to people familiar with that meeting, the finance minister was also critical of some of the prime minister's children's business interests.

Some UMNO officials say that Dr. Mahathir, too, has displayed irritation with his finance chief, particularly over Tun Daim's repeated failure to attend meetings of the UMNO Supreme Council, the party's top policy-making body.

The latest indicator of tension between the two men appeared early this week when Dr. Mahathir appointed former central-bank governor Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman as his special economic adviser. Political analysts and businessmen close to the government say the move is widely seen as a bid by the premier to seek independent counsel on economic matters and wean himself from his dependence on Tun Daim.

http://interactive.wsj.com/

http://news.catcha.com/my/content.phtml?1&010&&afpnews.cgi&cat=malaysia&stor y=010419112945.k3z72icp.txt

Malaysia finance minister on two months' leave, not quitting

KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 (AFP) - Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad Thursday denied Malaysia's powerful finance minister Daim Zainuddin was resigning, saying he was just taking two months' leave.

"He is not leaving in the first place. Just going on leave," Mahathir told reporters when asked about any resignation plans by Daim.

"He's only not attending cabinet meetings and UMNO (ruling party) supreme council meetings."

Asked if he has a replacement in mind should Daim resign, Mahathir said: "We will cross that bridge when we come to it.

"At the moment we have no plans to appoint a new minister of finance because we've not reached that stage."

Mahathir, who had earlier declined comment on a possible resignation, said he thought Daim was "tired."

Speculation about a resignation helped erode stock market gains.

The finance minister, widely considered Malaysia's second most powerful man after Mahathir, has often said he wants to quit politics.

There have been frequent rumours of rifts with the premier but both men have said in the past they are able to work with each other.

Mahathir said earlier in the day there was no need for an acting finance minister since Daim was still visiting his office and going through documents and letters.

He said Daim would be represented in cabinet by Entrepreneur Development Minister Nazri Aziz.

A government official said Daim had been on leave for a week.

"Rumours of him being relieved are not true," the official told AFX-Asia, an AFP-affiliated financial newswire.

"He will be in the office as usual and will be clearing (his work). He is just taking leave from official meetings. No one is relieving him."

The official denied rumours that Daim took leave to protest against the appointment, announced this week, of former central bank governor Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman as one of Mahathir's economic advisers.

Share prices turned lower in midafternoon trade after a brief run-up, with news of Daim's leave undermining already shaky market confidence. The main index closed almost unchanged from Wednesday.

"There has been speculation about him resigning for as long as I can remember," said WorldSec Securities senior analyst Peck Boon Soon. "Certainly, people will link this bit of news to (speculation of) his resignation."

Daim, 62, was born in the same village as Mahathir. He was finance minister from 1984 until returning to the private sector in 1991.

He was brought back into the cabinet in June 1998 as special functions minister to promote economic recovery, dealing a blow to then-finance minister Anwar Ibrahim.

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,2276,4331,00.html?

April 18, 2001

New Mahathir adviser won't erode Daim's clout

Ali Abul Hassan will oversee Economic Planning Unit: officials

By Eddie Toh in Kuala Lumpur

THE appointment of another key adviser to Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad will not erode the clout of his chief economic adviser, Daim Zainuddin, according to government officials.

An official said the appointment of former central bank chief Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman will not affect Mr Daim's portfolios of Finance and Special Functions.

'Ali will oversee the Economic Planning Unit (EPU),' said an official, referring to the agency under the Prime Minister's Department that handles the country's privatisation drive.

Mr Ali, also formerly EPU's director-general from 1991-1998, is the second high-ranking official to be named adviser to Dr Mahathir.

Last year, the premier named ex-central banker Nor Mohamed Yakcop - the man credited with the decision by Malaysia to impose capital controls in September 1998 - as his adviser on finance-related matters.

Unlike the appointment of Mr Nor Mohamed Yakcop, the latest appointment of Mr Ali has not re-ignited rumours of a growing rift between Dr Mahathir and Mr Daim.

The fissure between the two political bigwigs was more apparent over the blueprint to consolidate the banking sector in 1999.

Mr Daim and Bank Negara had initially picked six banks to house the country's 58 financial institutions in the forced merger programme.

However, Dr Mahathir, after much lobbying by disgruntled bankers who were left out of the plan, reversed the decision and allowed more than six 'anchor' banks to emerge in a market-driven approach.

Murmurs of the purported rift have also died down as Dr Mahathir continued to rely on Mr Daim to help steer the economy, which is set to register a slower growth rate of under 6 per cent this year against 8.5 per cent last year.

Dr Mahathir has roped in Mr Daim twice to help revive the economy in the last 15 years - first in the mid-1980s recession, and, more recently, in 1998 when the country slipped into its worst recession.

The appointment of Mr Ali is not expected to change the course of the Malaysian economy. Dr Mahathir and Mr Daim have agreed on the strategy to further pump-prime the economy and maintain a loose monetary policy to sustain economic growth this year.

Daim on way out?

Media Statement by DAP National Chairman Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, April 18, 2001:

Is Daim on the way out as Finance Minister with Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman as the de facto Finance Minister

--

The announcement by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad that Tun Daim Zainuddin is taking two months' leave has come like a thunderbolt on a debilitated stock market, reconfirming that something is fundamentally wrong with the governance and the market in Malaysia.

Yesterday, when the major Asian stock markets rallied, driven by positive news out of the United States technology sector and a weakening of the US dollar against the yen, Malaysia was the exception. South Korean stocks made the biggest gains, with the Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbing 5.1%. IIn Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Index surged 4.4%. The Thai stock benchmark advanced 3.7% while the share indexes rose nearly 3% in Hong Kong and Singapore. Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI), however, went south and dragged stocks down for a second day, declining by 0.88%!

This sorry tale has been repeated today. At about 4 p.m., the major Asian stock markets continued their rallies, with their share indexes chalking up gains: South Korea 4.32%, Singapore 2.57%, Taiwan 1.81%, Thailand 1.76% and Japan 1.66% while Malaysia continued to be the "sick man" of the Asian dragons and tigers, declining by 0.25%.

There have been frequent rumours of rifts between Mahathir and Daim, and the question uppermost in the country and market is whether the latest development presages a final break-up of the two leading to Daim's departure as Finance Minister.

Officially, the government has denied that Daim was resigning or has been been relieved as Finance Minister or that he took leave to protest against the appointment, announced this week, of former central bank governor Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman as one of Mahathir's economic advisers.

"He was already on leave before the appointment," an official said.

Mahathir told reporters Daim had informed him that he wanted to rest.

"Daim is tired," he said. Mahathir said there would not be an acting finance minister.

Daim would be represented in cabinet by Entrepreneur Development Minister Nazri Aziz.

"Daim is still around and he goes to the office once in a while to check on documents," the premier added.

A government official said Daim had been on leave for a week.

Malaysians must find these developments in the stewardship of the country's finances most bizarre and irresponsible:

1. A Finance Minister taking leave for two months when the country is facing a second economic crisis in four years;
   

2. No appointment of an acting Finance Minister, but merely the appointment of a junior Minister to represent the Finance Minister in Cabinet;
   

3. The appointment of Tan Sri Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman as the Prime Minister's special adviser on economic matters, when it is open secret that Ali Abul Hassan broke with Daim when he was Bank Negara Governor by supporting the Prime Minister in scuttling Daim's plans to merge all banks and financial institutions into six core groups and expanding them to ten. Is Daim on the way out as Finance Minister with Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman as the de facto Finance Minister, with Nazri Aziz as the Cabinet errand boy to keep up the proper appearances in Cabinet?
   

   If the end has come in the partnership between Mahathir and Daim, the rift had been kept very secret although there were straws in the wind that something was amiss, such as:
   
   

4. The Prime Minister announcing the RM3 billion economic stimulus package when it should be announced by the Finance Minister, followed up by a mini-budget presentation in the Dewan Rakyat for parliamentary scrutiny and sanction.
   
   

5. The failure of the Finance Minister to gazette the reduction of the EPF employees' contribution from 11 per cent to nine per cent, without which the two per cent EPF cut is unlawful and cannot be legally implemented.
   

6. The appointment of Ali Abul Hassan, whose tenure as Bank Negara Governor as terminated by Daim, as the Prime Minister's special economic adviser.

- Lim Kit Siang -

The Financial Times, UK
20th April 2001

Malaysian finance chief 'on leave'

By Sheila McNulty

Daim Zainuddin, finance minister and trusted lieutenant of Malaysia's prime minister, on Thursday made a surprise decision to take an extended leave of absence. The decision comes an awkward time for Mahathir Mohamad.

Dr Mahathir's ruling party is losing ground to the opposition, the economy is slowing, social tensions have been heightened by an unusual spate of fatal racial attacks, and criticism is mounting over the arrest last week of seven opposition activists under security laws allowing detention without trial.

"To have your most loyal lieutenant leave you at a politically critical time is very symbolic," says Victor Savage, co-ordinator of the South-east Asian Studies Programme at the National University of Singapore. "People will read the worst possible scenarios into that situation."

Dr Mahathir may have created more uncertainty about the two-month leave for a "tired" Mr Daim. When asked whether it set the stage for Mr Daim's resignation, Dr Mahathir said: "That you've got to ask him. If you ask me and I answer, he might get angry."

Nazri Aziz, the undistinguished but reliable entrepreneur development minister, is to stand in for Mr Daim. Dr Mahathir has appointed Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman, former central bank governor, as his special adviser, presumably to ensure he is briefed on the rapidly slowing economy.

The Asian Development Bank yesterday forecast growth of 4.9 per cent this year, down sharply from 8.5 per cent last year. The government is predicting 5-6 per cent growth because of the slowdown in exports to the US, a key market.

Analysts predict growth will be hit further by an inability to maintain a competitive currency due to Malaysia's fixed exchange rate. "Clearly business conditions have deteriorated," says Mohamed Ariff, head of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research, the country's top think tank.

Analysts say political uncertainties brought by Mr Daim's departure can only aggravate the myriad problems facing Dr Mahathir in his 20th year in power. "I don't know who is with him any more," Mr Savage says. "Nobody knows precisely what is happening."

Mr Daim has been seen as Dr Mahathir's trusted ally since the 1980s, when he began serving as treasurer of the ruling UMNO party. He first worked as Dr Mahathir's finance minister between 1984-91, when he guided the economy out of recession.

When the regional financial crisis hit in mid-1997, Mr Daim was a successful businessman with no interest in returning to politics. But he agreed to become finance minister again after Anwar Ibrahim was sacked as finance minister and deputy prime minister.

Mr Anwar, who was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for committing sexual misdeeds and abusing his power to conceal them, maintains he is the victim of a plot to keep him from challenging Dr Mahathir's reign. He had supported International Monetary Fund prescriptions for the economy despite Dr Mahathir's objections. The prime minister trusted Mr Daim to steer the country through the crisis without undermining him politically.

Despite Mr Daim's success at reviving growth, he and Dr Mahathir are widely believed to have disagreed on several contentious issues, such as whether to let Singapore Telecommunications buy into the Malaysian telecommunications sector and how tightly to consolidate the banking industry.

"Most people do think Daim is registering dissent of some kind," says KS Jomo, political economist at the University of Malaya.

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http://www.thetimes.co.uk/
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