Malaysia PM Defends Daim Appointment
From: Theotherhalf <mobile@tm.net.my>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.malaysia
Subject: Malaysia PM Defends Daim Appointment
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 21:13:04 +0000
Reuters 25-JUN-98 By Jalil Hamid
KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad defended on Thursday the appointment of his
trusted lieutenant Daim Zainuddin to his cabinet amid
opposition charges that he could be sending wrong signals to
the world.
Mahathir, speaking a day after naming the 60-year-old
government veteran as minister with special functions in
charge of economic development, said Daim would stay until
the current economic turmoil was resolved.
Responding to reporters' questions, Mahathir said Daim's
role would not overlap with that of Finance Minister Anwar
Ibrahim, who had been largely in charge of pulling Malaysia
out of its worst economic crisis in more than a decade.
But opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said he had
reservations.
"Daim's appointment...raises the question whether we are
nearing a situation where there would be two finance
ministers in the cabinet, one in name without the support of
the prime minister while another who does not have the title
of finance minister but with the powers of the office and
the support of the prime minister," he said in a statement.
"This will send out distressing signals to the market, the
country and the world that the government leadership is
still divided on how to restore confidence to resolve the
worst economic crisis facing the country," said Lim, who is
the secretary-general of the Democratic Action Party.
Finance minister from 1984 to 1991, Daim was credited with
pulling Malaysia out of a recession in the 1980s. He is one
of the richest men in the country and one of the most
powerful behind the scenes.
Mahathir, worried over possible conflict of interest, said
Daim must relinquish his business interest but conceded that
this might take time.
As architect of Malaysia's privatisation programme, which
made millionaires of a few Malay entrepreneurs selected to
take over government enterprises, Daim was at the vortex of
criticism about cronyism.
"Another distressing signal in Daim's appointment is that
the issues of corruption, cronyism and nepotism would be
addressed seriously by the government," the DAP's Lim said.
Daim's promotion came three days after Mahathir rebuked a
youth leader of his party for making accusations of cronyism
and nepotism which he said were baseless. |
