Victorious Mahathir mulls Cabinet choices<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
\nMohamad met leaders of his victorious ruling coalition on Monday
\namid speculation he would tap a former archrival to replace his
\nfinance minister in a new cabinet lineup.<\/p>\n
Leaders of his 14-party Barisan Nasional coalition met
\nMahathir separately to discuss the formation of the cabinet, the
\nofficial Bernama news agency said.<\/p>\n
The Barisan Nasional (BN) won 148 of 193 seats in last week's
\ngeneral election, giving the alliance its 10th consecutive
\nmandate to rule Malaysia since independence in 1957.<\/p>\n
Although Mahathir's coalition won three-quarters of the seats
\nin the lower house of parliament, its grip was weaker than in the
\noutgoing parliament, in which it held 166 seats, as the
\nopposition Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) made inroads in the
\nMalay heartland in the east and north of Peninsular Malaysia.<\/p>\n
There was mounting speculation that Finance Minister Daim
\nZainuddin, architect of Malaysia's 14-month-old capital controls
\nand regarded as friendly to the country's markets, would leave
\nthe government.<\/p>\n
Asked by reporters if he would seek to remain finance
\nminister, Daim said: \"You should ask the prime minister, not me.
\nOnly the prime minister can answer.\" Daim also said he might not
\nbe in the cabinet to present a new budget for 2000.<\/p>\n
Daim, who has been in the cabinet since mid-1998, denied he
\ndisagreed with Mahathir over an ambitious bank merger plan.<\/p>\n
But financial markets have been expecting Daim, 61, to leave
\nthe government now that the economy has recovered from the worst
\nrecession in four decades and the election is over.<\/p>\n
The stock market was increasingly expecting Mahathir to name
\nhis erstwhile rival, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, to replace Daim.<\/p>\n
Razaleigh, 62, once served in Mahathir's government, but the
\ntwo men became bitter rivals and engaged in a fierce contest in
\n1987 that split the politically dominant ethnic Malays.<\/p>\n
A former finance minister and member of one of the country's
\nroyal families, Razaleigh joined forces with several other
\nopposition parties to try to topple Mahathir in the 1990 general
\nelection.<\/p>\n
Until his return to Mahathir's UMNO in late 1996, Razaleigh
\nhad teamed up again and again with old foes to fight Mahathir.
\nBut Mahathir and Razaleigh have largely smoothed over their
\ndifferences, and the prime minister tapped the former finance
\nminister to lead their coalition in the key northeastern state of
\nKelantan in last week's polls.<\/p>\n
Stockbrokers said they saw no major change in policy if
\nRazaleigh were to take office, but Daim's departure could upset
\nthe share market.<\/p>\n
\"Daim is considered more market-friendly than Razaleigh, and
\ncontinuity of policy would be maintained if Daim stayed,\" one
\ndealer said.<\/p>\n
Malaysian Chinese-dominated parties from both ruling and
\nopposition camps warned PAS on Monday to scrap plans for a
\nspecial tax on non-Muslims in a state where it won election.<\/p>\n
PAS has proposed legislation to collect compulsory tithes or
\nzakat from Muslims in northeastern Terengganu, and a
\ncorresponding tax or kharaj from non-Muslims.<\/p>\n
But the Democratic Action Party (DAP), PAS' ally in the
\ncountry's first formal opposition alliance, warned it risked
\nlosing support of non-Muslims.<\/p>\n
\"PAS should seriously weigh the political costs of imposing
\nkharaj at the expense of alienating the sensitivities of non-
\nMuslim Malaysians,\" chairman Lim Kit Siang said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The DAP will form a special committee to study all proposed
\nnew laws by PAS in Terengganu and neighboring Kelantan to ensure
\nthey are aligned with the Alternative Front's common manifesto,
\nhe said.<\/p>",
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