Daim's Predictions

If you want to know what is in store for the country's political future, you've got to ask Tun Daim Zainuddin.

Prior to the last general election, Daim predicted that the BN would lose five states. Almost no one believed him, but he got it all correct.

Daim has since become a soothsayer few can afford to overlook. Some call him a great fortune-teller, others say he is a political sorcerer.

One day, I went to his office with a colleague, and wanted him to show us a way on the country's current political state of affairs, and how he would predict the outcome of the next general election.

A low-key, somewhat mysterious person, Daim always leaves much to be speculated, from his stint as the country's finance minister to the business empire he has built.

It took a lot of effort for us to get an appointment to meet him and conduct a face-to-face interview.

No matter how people look at him, all share a common impression of him, that he is an extremely shrewd man, and the great power that he once had with him proves this point.

Well acquainted with the modus operandi of the government, he knows where the BN's weaknesses lie, as well as its many problems.

He has Umno at his finger tips. Thoughts that prevail in the party, its organisation, and the roles played by individual leaders in the party are all within his grips.

The varied info channels available to him and his broad business perspectives have allowed him to identify the blind spots in Umno and BN, and more objective facts.

As a result, he put it candidly that the 2008 political tsunami served BN and Umno just right, as they were excessively arrogant and conceited, thanks to the landslide victory secured in 2004. The same also made them overlook the changes that were subsequently taking place in the country as well as the various signals and warnings.

The leaders failed to respond to the voices of the public, and the voters decided they had to teach the ruling coalition an important lesson through the ballots in their hands.

The sudden surge in the number of seats won by the opposition was a good thing for the country's democratic development, according to Daim.

Indeed, the government needs to be supervised and the rakyat now have an option.

Daim felt Najib had tried hard to implement the changes after he took over as the prime minister, but he conceded that the "cow-gate" incident had dealt a serious blow on the government.

He revealed a political strategy: Most issues would normally be sedimented within 14 days. In other words, Malaysians have short memories, and many issues that are unfavourable to the government could only work their influences within only two weeks, after which they will be obliterated from the people's minds and there is no need for the government to get excessively concerned.

Nevertheless, if an issue outlives the 14-day cooling-off period, something is going to be not very right. With the NFC scandal holding on for so long and the government not taking any proactive steps to tackle it, the same could work to the disadvantage of the ruling coalition.

As for the other things like whether BN is capable of recapturing the lost states, the status of Najib after the election, the future of MCA, Pakatan's problems and the fate of Anwar Ibrahim, they will all be addressed later in the exclusive interview.

-Sin Chew Daily