In a media statement today, Daim said he is ready to support and co-operate with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the latter’s investigation into his overseas banking interests.
The statement was issued by his office in relation to calls by opposition politicians for MACC to expedite its probe into the matter.
"Whilst I understand the motivation of these PKR politicians as they know not much other than politics and making baseless allegations, I am quite surprised with the attention given to them by the government-friendly media," said Daim.
"TV3 which would not give two minutes of air time to Pakatan, has aired the PKR press conference no less than three times. The NSTand Utusan have also carried these news."
Daim was referring to PKR, founded by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim’s wife following his downfall in the late 1990s in a sodomy controversy.
Television station TV3 as well as newspapers New Straits Times(NST) and Utusan Malaysia are controlled by the Media Prima group, controlled by Umno, which is the backbone of the ruling BN coalition.
During the recent Kajang by-election de facto opposition leader Anwar alleged that Daim was involved in transactions in Africa and eastern Europe worth billions of ringgit, done through proxies.
In April last year, PKR youth movement chief Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin lodged a police report against Daim - not the first - on the allegations, submitting documents including a review by a business publication on Daim’s banking activities.
KiniBiz had previously examined Daim’s far-flung banking empire as part of a four-part issue series which also examined his influence in Corporate Malaysia as well as his early beginnings.
This was followed by a four-part interview with Daim.
Earlier this week, former New Straits Times head honcho A Kadir Jasin questioned the attention given by the mainstream media - which commonly give little attention to the opposition - to the opposition’s allegations concerning Daim’s business activities.
"Are the editors and journalists of the mainsteam media not aware of the hidden agenda of (the opposition) or were they ordered to attack Daim by any means possible, even going to bed together with (the opposition)?” wrote the veteran journalist on his blog.
Kadir further wrote that even if the media concerned has juicy information on Daim, they still need to remember the possibility that Daim may have even juicier information on their own bosses.
Daim was former finance minister twice under the fourth prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who named the previously low-key backbencher as finance minister in 1984.
While Daim subsequently left the position in 1991, he was again called to the position in 1998 following the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC).
"I am aware of who is behind this sudden attention on me. If you don’t like the message, kill the messenger," said Daim further.
In his statement, Daim urged these pressure groups to leave MACC alone to do its work.
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