Word: daime
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...after the departure a year ago of Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, Mahathir put the country on a different track. "There was clearly a divergence of views on how to deal with the corporate sector," says Basu. "Dr. Mahathir decided Tun Daim's views were deeply flawed and has moved to a much more professional and open approach." Respected figures have been given critical regulatory posts in the central bank, at the debt recovery agency set up after the Asian crisis to dispose of repossessed corporate assets, at the securities commission and elsewhere. Stock market regulations were also changed requiring earnings...
...Five years ago, Mokhtar wasn't a familiar face in Kuala Lumpur's corridors of power. According to his associates, that was largely due to his strained ties with then Finance Minister and longtime Mahathir confidant Daim. Whatever the reason, Mokhtar found several key ventures at the state level mysteriously blocked. Reports began to filter back that his name was being blackened at the highest levels of government. Finally, Mokhtar asked for an audience with the Prime Minister. For the first 20 minutes, Mahathir sat stony-faced, his arms crossed. But, Mokhtar associates say, the PM began to thaw...
...five years that have since passed, Mokhtar's star has soared, his rise accelerating noticeably since the departure of Daim last June after a falling out with the Prime Minister. Associates say Mokhtar's ambitions extend to nothing less than turning his adopted hometown of Johor Bahru into a second Singapore by spending millions of dollars upgrading the roads and water supply, developing every inch of the 2,000 acres on which the port sits?the goal is to double or treble current capacity?and transforming the town's airport into a major air-cargo hub. Mahathir...
...attacking the absent Finance Minister freely, particularly his recent decisions to bail out?with public funds?businessmen regarded as protEgEs. Just how far Mahathir will go to distance himself from his old friend is unclear. Political analysts in Kuala Lumpur say they are watching closely to see whether Daim's business associates come under intensified official scrutiny. But the Prime Minister might decline to escalate the rift to the public sphere. Conspiracy theorists say he wouldn't dare. "Daim just knows too much, all the political and financial secrets of the past 20 years," says a veteran observer who knows...
...Prime Minister's high-stakes political strategy is fraught with danger. If figures like Daim and Khalil are in trouble, other politicians in Kuala Lumpur can't help but feel nervous. That's surely the case with Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Three previous Deputy Prime Ministers have fallen by the wayside, including his imprisoned predecessor Anwar Ibrahim. And now, with the Prime Minister apparently renewing contacts with perennial contender Razaleigh Hamzah, the last thing Abdullah needs is to get caught in the middle of a political earthquake. "Mahathir had better make sure that while he's trimming...