Daim runs down Anwar, Pakatan in Putrajaya stump

Daim speaking at the ceramah in Putrajaya last night. On the right is Tengku Adnan. — Pictures by Zurairi ARPUTRAJAYA, April 30 — Tun Daim Zainuddin slammed Pakatan Rakyat (PR) as a “confused alliance” and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as a “huge liar” last night when the former finance minister became the latest Barisan Nasional (BN) veteran to campaign in Putrajaya.

Daim rallied for BN candidate Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor in the federal administrative capital just three days after Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s stump there. BN has also had former Deputy Prime Minister Tun Musa Hitam campaigning in what is seen as the closest general election ever in the country’s history.

“When choosing a government you must choose a good one, not one which will damn the country ... They are a confused bunch, don’t believe these confused people or you will suffer later,” said Daim, referring to PR.

He accused Anwar of being incompetent during the latter’s run as finance minister in the early ‘90s, claiming that Anwar consulted him almost every day on how to run things.

A view of the crowd which turned up for last night’s ceramah which featured Daim.Daim was finance minister from 1984 and resigned in 1991, after which Anwar took over his post. He returned to the ministerial post in 1999 after helping Malaysia get through the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

He said Anwar cheated and used his name to garner support for his tilt at Umno’s deputy presidency. Anwar has been alleged to have used money politics to win the post, which catapulted him to become deputy prime minister.

Speaking to the crowd made up of mostly of party workers and members, Daim urged BN supporters in Putrajaya to unite in the May 5 polls, and vote in Tengku Adnan over PAS candidate Datuk Husam Musa for the parliamentary seat.

“The only people who can solve your problems is Tengku Adnan, because he is the secretary-general of Umno ... And the president of Umno is the prime minister,” he said.

Daim proved himself still popular with the crowd of hundreds in Precinct 8 here, who surprised him with a “Happy Birthday” song earlier in the night.

The crowd however was significantly less than when Dr Mahathir gave a speech in Precinct 9 last week. Some 15,000 voters, mostly civil servants, cast their ballots in Putrajaya, which is seen as a government stronghold.

On Sunday, Daim was featured on the front page of Mingguan Malaysia, the Sunday edition of the Umno-owned Malay daily Utusan Malaysia, where he predicted a PR loss.

“I see the opposition will not win this time because they have too many differences. In many issues they have failed to unite.

“We see not only in the matter of seats and candidates distribution, but also differences in their principles of struggle,” he told Mingguan Malaysia.