Mahathir's APEC absence spurs talk of snap elections

Mahathir's APEC absence spurs talk of snap elections

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's decision to withdraw from next week's Asia-Pacific summit in New Zealand fanned speculation on Friday that he would soon call snap elections.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit in Auckland instead of Mahathir.

"Mahathir's decision not to attend the APEC leaders meeting in Auckland next week sparked a fresh round of election rumors," market consultants Standard & Poor's MMS said.

Syed Hamid dismissed the speculation.

"Leaders do sometimes send other people. I think Dr Mahathir has a lot of things to do," the foreign minister told reporters in the capital. "I don't think it is related to the election."

But some saw Mahathir's last-minute decision as a sign that he was stepping up preparations for general elections, which he must call by June 2000 but which are expected sooner.

A Western diplomat said: "His withdrawal probably has as much to do with domestic political reasons as the fact that he does not seem to care about APEC."

Japanese ambassador Hideki Harashima said a delegation led by Toyota Motor Corp chairman Hiroshi Okuda was unable to meet Mahathir due to the prime minister's political schedule.

Mahathir has long had ambivalent feelings towards APEC. His absence at the first summit in Seattle in 1993 led then Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating to brand him a "recalcitrant", a comment that sparked a diplomatic row between Malaysia and Australia.

At the 1994 summit in Jakarta, he was angry that planners produced a draft document calling for a vast Asia-Pacific free trade area by the year 2020 ahead of the meeting without consulting Malaysia.

Mahathir hosted last year's summit when U.S. Vice President Al Gore saluted supporters of former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was sacked by Mahathir before the APEC meeting.

Mahathir has recently renewed criticism of APEC.

"APEC has shown it is unwilling to take decisive steps, particularly with regard to the financial crisis, so I don't expect APEC to achieve much in New Zealand," he said during a visit to China last month.

Syed Hamid said Mahathir's decision to skip the summit did not mean Malaysia was snubbing the forum, noting that U.S. President Bill Clinton missed last year's summit in Malaysia.

Asia's recent financial crisis prompted Mahathir to renew his call for an East Asian Economic Caucus which would group Asian economies and exclude the United States, Australia and New Zealand -- all APEC members.

He has also reiterated his support for Japan's 1997 proposal for a $100 billion Asian Monetary Fund. The United States and Europe opposed the proposal as a threat to the International Monetary Fund and financial discipline.