[ Laman Ehwal Semasa ReformIS ]
Date: 07 Sep 1999
Time: 22:41:14
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Mahathir fuels election fever
Dr Mahathir has never disguised his contempt for APEC
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad will not be attending next week's Asia-Pacific summit, fuelling speculation that he is about to call snap elections. Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said that Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would replace the prime minister at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum when it starts in Auckland on 9 September.
Opposition members and economists said Dr Mahathir's decision indicated that general elections could be imminent. Elections must be held by June 2000.
"Everybody's reaction is that it is election-related," said Lim Kit Siang, the parliamentary opposition leader.
Speculation about imminent elections was all the more intense because the opposition is split and the economy has rebounded.
But one Western diplomat said Dr Mahathir's withdrawal could probably be linked to the fact that he cares little for APEC.
Boycott
Dr Mahathir, 71, is one of APEC's harshest critics. He has repeatedly accused it of being dominated by the United States and Australia.
In the past few weeks, he had not hidden his contempt for the organisation.
"Frankly, I don't expect much from APEC. APEC has shown that it is unwilling to take decisive steps, particularly with regard to the financial crisis. I don't expect APEC to achieve much in Auckland," he said recently.
He boycotted APEC's inaugural summit in 1993 saying that it was dominated by large western countries who cared nothing for smaller Asian economies.
Asia's recent financial crisis prompted Dr Mahathir to renew his call for an East Asian Economic Caucus which would group Asian economies and exclude the US, New Zealand and Australia, who are all APEC members.