Former M’sian finance minister Daim unfazed by sacking from Umno
Former finance minister Daim Zainuddin at a dialogue session in Parit Yusof, Muar, Johor on Saturday (May 5).
PARIT YUSOF — Just hours after his abrupt sacking from the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) was confirmed on Saturday (May 5), former Malaysian finance minister Daim Zainuddin said defiantly he did not want to stay with a "car headed into a river" and an "illegal society" in any case.
Speaking at a dialogue session with opposition candidates on Saturday in Parit Yusof, Muar, Mr Daim — a staunch supporter of former premier turned opposition leader Mahathir Mohamad — was weighing in on being “let go” from the ranks of his long-time party.
Using the analogy of a car careering towards a river, Mr Daim told the audience of more than 100, which included Muar constituents: “Why should I follow the car into the river? I will make a U-turn.”
The dialogue session featured opposition politicians, including Mr Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), who is contesting the Muar parliamentary seat.
PPBM is part of the four-party Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposition pact helmed by Dr Mahathir.
Earlier in the day, Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor told the Malaysian press that the party had revoked the memberships of Mr Daim and former international trade and industry minister Rafidah Aziz. This was for campaigning for the opposition, which ran counter to the party’s constitution and code of ethics, Mr Adnan explained.
Meanwhile, the party is also establishing whether another member, former foreign minister Rais Yatim, was in cahoots with PH to deny Barisan Nasional (BN) a victory at the May 9 general elections. Umno is the lynchpin party of the BN ruling coalition, under which Mr Daim served two stints as the country’s finance minister, between 1984 and 1991 and from 1999 to 2001.
He has been campaigning alongside PH politicians, and said earlier this week that he was “fighting for justice for the people”, adding that he was unafraid of disciplinary action by Umno.
He reiterated on Saturday that Umno was an “illegal society”, in a reference to how the party has not held internal elections since October 2013, which is more than the 54 months allowed in its constitution.
The Registrar of Societies has, however, approved Umno's application to postpone the elections till April 2019.
Last month, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed an application by 16 ex-Umno members who wanted the party dissolved for not conducting the internal elections for almost five years.
In his Muar forum speech lasting almost 40 minutes, Mr Daim discussed everything from the rising cost of living to the 6 per cent Goods and Services Tax introduced in 2015, which the PH has pledged to scrap if it sweeps to power.
He called on the audience to give PH a chance, and urged younger voters who make up a sizeable section of the electorate to cast their ballot thoughtfully because their choice also concerns the future of the latter generations.
Speaking to reporters after the dialogue session, he said that the news of his dismissal from Umno was “normal”.
Mr Daim, 80, who moves around with the aid of a walking stick, added: “It doesn’t matter. I’m old already… Let’s go and campaign for a change in government.”
His call was echoed by Ms Rafidah Aziz on Saturday night (May 5) in a rally in the parliamentary constituency of Segambut in Kuala Lumpur, as she urged Malaysians to go out and vote for a "new contractor" to administer the country.
Likening Malaysia to a house Malaysians live in, the former Umno minister said the current management company - referring to the Najib Razak administration - has not been upkeeping the house well for the past decade.
As such, she said Malaysians have the choice of switching to a new management headed by a former "manager" - Dr Mahathir.
"It's our duty to make sure our house Malaysia is not governed by those who don't know how to run it well," she said at a PH rally in the affluent housing estate of Taman Tun Dr Ismail.
"On May 9, sign a new contract with Pakatan Harapan. Vote to change to a new contractor to manage our blessed house - Malaysia." Additional reporting by Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur
