[Walaupun Daim meletak jawatan - itu terletak ke atas budi bicara Mahathir untuk menerima atau menolaknya. Daim juga meletak semua jawatan dalam kerajaan dan Umno. Sebenarnya di sinilah rahsianya... dalam Umno.

Dengan meletak jawatan dalam Umno - beliau tidak perlu membentangkan akaun Umno yang sudah dikerjakannya (untuk dirinya dan Mahathir??). Dijangka tiada sesiapa dapat merungkaikan akaun itu. MKT pun tidak tahu entah berapa juta sudah disonglap. Rencana terbaru MGG Pillai ada menyebut mengenai akaun ini dan bagaimana Mahathir sebenarnya telah sedikit berbohong tidak tahu Daim meletak jawatan. Kita ulas dilain waktu berita yang begitu panas ini..... - Editor]

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp? file=/2001/6/2/latest/725Daimhasr&sec=latest

Saturday, June 2, 2001

Daim has resigned, says Dr Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) _ Malaysia's powerful finance minister has resigned following a two-month leave of absence, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced Saturday.

Daim Zainuddin's future has been the subject of intense speculation on financial markets since earlier this year, amid speculation that he had fallen out with Mahathir and would resign from the Cabinet.

Mahathir told local reporters that Daim submitted a resignation letter to him Friday after he returned to Kuala Lumpur from the G-15 summit of developing nations in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Daim gave no reasons for his decision, which was effective immediately, Mahathir was quoted as saying by the national news agency Bernama.

In April, Mahathir surprised the markets by announcing that Daim had gone on leave and would not attend meetings of the Cabinet or of the decision-making body of Malaysia's ruling United Malays National Organization.

At the time, Mahathir insisted that Daim, 62, would continue his work at the finance ministry, but declined to make a definitive statement on whether his leave was a prelude to retirement.

Daim, seen as Malaysia's second-most powerful leader, has repeatedly made it known that he wants to leave politics.

Rumors have abounded for months that Mahathir and Daim no longer see eye to eye, though they frequently deny differences.

In the 1980s, Daim was Mahathir's right-hand man in transforming Malaysia's economy from a commodity-dependent backwater into one of the most dynamic in Southeast Asia.

By the mid-1990s, though, Mahathir had turned over the Finance Ministry to his popular deputy premier, Anwar Ibrahim, and Daim was pursuing a lucrative career in the private sector.

But when regional economies collapsed in the 1997-98 financial crisis, Mahathir clashed with Anwar, who wanted Malaysia to follow International Monetary Fund-style reform programs.

Mahathir subsequently fired his protege and made Daim the economic czar. Anwar was tried and sentenced to 15 years in prison for corrupted and s###my. He claims he was set up to prevent a political challenge, which the government denies.

Daim instituted measures at odds with those recommended by the Washington-based IMF, imposing capital controls and pegging the ringgit to the U.S. dollar. The measures appeared to work at least as well as IMF-mandated programs.

But Malaysia's economic policy has suffered several setbacks in recent months, from criticism of alleged cronyism to a predicted fall in growth due to ripple effects from the U.S. slowdown hitting the country's exports of electronics goods.

http://news.catcha.com/my/content.phtml? 1&010&&afpnews.cgi&cat=malaysia&story= 010602064659.p1lsuzdq.txt

Malaysian finance minister resigns after weeks of uncertainty

KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 (AFP) - Malaysia's Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin has resigned, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Saturday.

His announcement, carried by the official Bernama news agency, ended months of speculation about the powerful finance minister's future.

Mahathir announced April 19 that Daim was taking two months' leave because he may be "tired."

The finance minister had been going into his office during his leave and attending some official functions.

But he skipped meetings of the cabinet and those of the ruling party -- fuelling persistent rumours of a rift with the premier.

Mahathir told reporters that Daim tendered his resignation letter Friday but had given no reasons for quitting.

"Two months ago he asked to resign but I told him to go on leave first and reconsider his decision," the premier said.

Asked whether Daim's intention to resign was discussed in cabinet, he said: "This is not a cabinet matter. The cabinet did not discuss, I'm the only one."

About about Daim's successor, Mahathir said he had not thought about it yet. Jokingly he added: "If anyone wants (the job)..."

Asked whether he accepted the resignation, Mahathir said: "I accept...he asked 10 months ago."

Daim, 63, was widely considered Malaysia's most powerful man after Mahathir and was born in the same village as the premier.

But there were persistent rumours of rifts in recent years although both men denied it.

There was speculation that the finance minister took "leave" in April in protest at Mahathir's appointment of former central bank governor Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman as one of his economic advisers.

Daim could not immediately be reached for comment. It was not clear if he would continue as treasurer of the ruling United Malays National Organisation, a post which carries considerable political influence.

Daim was finance minister from 1984-91 before resigning to return to a business career.

He returned to the cabinet in June 1998 as special functions minister to promote economic recovery amid the regional financial crisis.

Daim was appointed finance minister in January 1999 following the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim as finance minister and deputy premier.

Malaysia recovered swiftly from the financial crisis, posting economic growth of 8.5 percent last year.

But growth slowed sharply in the first quarter of this year as the global slowdown began hitting the export-driven economy, recording a year-on-year figure of 3.2 percent.

It was unclear how much political damage the resignation would do to Mahathir, who completes 20 years in power next month.

One diplomat told AFP that Daim, who has considerable personal wealth from his time as a businessman, had no grassroots support

"People will see both sides of the coin. It is a blow because Daim was very close to Mahathir.

"But he was unpopular... if he is out of the cabinet people might take it more positively."

http://www.bernama.com/general/ge0206_5.htm

June 02 , 2001 14:47PM

Daim Has Resigned, Says Dr Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Saturday confirmed that Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin has resigned effective June 1.

He said Daim tendered his resignation letter to him yesterday.

Daim did not give any reasons for resigning, he told reporters after attending the investiture on the occasion of the 75th birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, at Istana Negara here.

The announcement puts to rest speculations on Daim's resignation which had been rife since he went on two months' leave which ended on May 31.

Dr Mahathir said: "Two months ago he asked to resign but I told him to go on leave first and reconsider his decision."

Asked whether Daim's intention to resign was discussed in the Cabinet, he said: "This is not a Cabinet matter. the Cabinet did not discuss, I'm the only one."

About about Daim's successor, Dr Mahathir said he had not thought about it yet.

Jokingly he said: "If anyone wants..."

Asked whether he accepted the resignation he said: "I accept...he asked 10 months ago."

He said he could not answer questions about the resignation earlier because Daim might change his mind. -- BERNAMA