Mahathir tries to regain footing ahead of polls

Mahathir tries to regain footing ahead of polls

By Nelson Graves

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad has clipped his own wings to stem mounting criticism over
his sacking of Anwar Ibrahim and regain the political initiative
ahead of general elections.

Mahathir reshuffled his cabinet last Friday, filling the
deputy prime minister slot which had been vacant since Anwar's
September sacking, promoting trusted cabinet allies and stripping
himself of two key portfolios.

His decision to fill the government's number two slot had been
widely expected. His choice -- outgoing foreign minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi -- was no surprise.

Perhaps more significant was his decision to end his decade-
long stint as home (interior) minister and drop control of the
finance ministry.

"Relinquishing the ministries was a surprise," parliamentary
opposition leader Lim Kit Siang told Reuters. "It is related to
the ruckus over Anwar's black eye."

He was referring to injuries that Mahathir's former heir-
apparent suffered while in police custody in September.

The attorney-general said last Tuesday that police were
responsible for injuries to Anwar, prompting the police chief to
resign in disgrace and stirring calls by the opposition and
rights activists for Mahathir to quit the home ministry.

The 73-year-old Mahathir moved quickly to try to nip the
criticism in the bud, giving the 59-year-old Abdullah the
additional portfolio of home minister.

"I hope Badawi as a home minister with a more human face will
grapple with the issue of restoring public confidence in the
police and institutions of government," Lim said.

It was too early to tell whether Mahathir's decision to drop
the home minister's job would put a lid on outrage over the
police treatment of Anwar, who was sacked in September.

His ouster and subsequent arrest exposed a gaping divide
within Mahathir's United Malays National Organization (UMNO)
party and inspired disgruntlement among its core Malay
constituents.

The political grumbling combined with the nation's first
recession in 13 years to pose one of the biggest threats to
UMNO's domination since independence in 1957 and forced Mahathir
to give up the notion of snap elections late last year.

Less ambiguous was Mahathir's effort to prepare UMNO for
general elections that must be held by April 2000.

By relinquishing two ministries, he responded to critics who
had accused him of consolidating too much power in his own hands
at the risk of being called an autocrat.

He bowed to pressure within his party and filled the deputy
prime minister slot, ensuring smooth succession if he ever fell
ill and erasing an element of uncertainty that has weighed like a
millstone on the country's political risk rating.

But Mahathir could be accused of putting old wine in a new
bottle.

He named his most trusted adviser, Daim Zainuddin, as first
finance minister, a job that the multi-millionaire held in the
1980s when he spearheaded the government's strategy for pulling
the nation out of its last recession.

Mahathir had already put Daim, 60, in charge of the economy
last June when he undercut then finance minister Anwar following
an open tussle at UMNO's general assembly.

Now Daim, the quintessential insider who prefers the shadows,
has the title with the job.

Mahathir was clearly hoping the political changes would allow
him to turn the political page in time to resuscitate UMNO ahead
of elections.

He announced that UMNO would not hold party leadership
elections in June as scheduled. That was a sure sign the party
would buckle down immediately with the team in place to try to
regain lost political ground.

Education Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who had been a leading
contender to become deputy prime minister, summed up the feelings
of UMNO's elite at their closed-door meeting last Friday.

"Most important is the question of strengthening the party and
assuring victory in the next general elections," he said.