PETALING JAYA: At the height of his success, former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin was known for his strong influence in politics and business.
As treasurer, he held the purse strings of Umno, then the strongest and richest political party in the country.
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He was also at the same time managing the nation’s finances as finance minister in the 1980s and again in the 1990s.
He was well-known for his unassuming style of clothing – oversized short-sleeved shirts which was usually left untucked, “capal” or leather slippers and disdain for strict protocols.
Above all, Daim was best known for being the right-hand man of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the latter’s tenure as prime minister.
However, in recent months, Daim was hit by allegations of massive corruption by the authorities.
Prior to his passing, he was battling his case in court where he declared that he was a victim of political persecution.
Daim who was from Kedah as his former boss Dr Mahathir, was Kuala Muda MP for five terms.
He came into the national political scene when he was appointed as a senator in 1980.
In 1982, he contested in Kuala Muda in his home state of Kedah and won the seat.
He was appointed party treasurer a year later when Dr Mahathir became prime minister and Umno president.
He was also given a responsibility to manage Umno’s then investment company Fleet Holdings Sdn Bhd.
In 1991, he resigned from the Cabinet voluntarily, but he was recalled in 1999 as the finance minister for the second time by Dr Mahathir to manage the Malaysian economy affected by the Asian financial crisis.
He was then appointed as executive director of the National Economic Action Council and subsequently made special functions minister.
In 2001, he resigned, saying he was retiring from politics to focus on his business ventures.
However, in 2018, during the run-up to the 14th General Election, Daim once again resurfaced by the side of Dr Mahathir, who had then joined the opposition Pakatan Harapan.
Daim campaigned for Pakatan, hitting out at the Barisan Nasional-led government.
Two days later, on May 3, several Umno leaders, including Daim, were sacked by Umno for supporting Pakatan.
Under Dr Mahathir’s second time as prime minister, Daim was appointed to head the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP).
The other members were former Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, former PETRONAS president Tan Sri Hassan Merican, tycoon Robert Kuok and economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram.
The CEP was tasked to advise the administration on policies and programmes to help achieve its election promises in the first 100 days of coming to power.
The CEP was disbanded when Dr Mahathir resigned as prime minister on Feb 24, 2020.
However, Daim continued to be seen by Dr Mahathir’s side even after the latter lost his parliamentary seat in GE15 in 2022.
On June 7 last year, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) issued a notice of investigations against Daim based on law and information from the infamous Pandora Papers.
On Dec 21 last year, the MACC seized the 60-storey Ilham Tower, owned by Daim’s family, following an anti-money laundering probe that started in late May regarding a corporate transaction valued at RM2.3bil (US$500mil) in November 1997 involving public-listed Renong Bhd and United Engineers Malaysia Bhd, which were both linked with Umno.
On Jan 29 this year, Daim was charged with failing to declare his assets linked to 38 companies, 25 properties and seven luxury cars to MACC.
He claimed trial to the charges and was hospitalised during the trial in October before he passed away yesterday.
