Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said he has absolutely no ties to Umno corporate figure Daim Zainuddin.

Instead, he said, those who are speculating that he is now in cahoots with Daim should pose the question to Daim themselves.

Khalid ( left ) also managed to crack a smile when asked by reporters on the speculations following an out-of-court settlement over his multi-million dispute with Bank Islam last week.

PKR’s Kapar MP G Manivanan today also issued a press statement urging Khalid to disclose if the person who brokered the out-of-court settlement is close to Daim, as speculated.

“The people who say I’m being used by Daim will need to ask Daim if he’s indeed using me. I have absolutely no links to him,” he said after a briefing on water in Shah Alam today.

However, he declined to reveal how the out-of-court settlement was brokered.

“I have a relationship with the bank and I use the services of a lawyer; it is an internal negotiation which I cannot disclose,” he said.

Khalid was reported to be embroiled in a dispute over a purchase of 20 percent of Guthrie Group Bhd's shares, while he was chief executive officer there.

Bank Islam took the matter to court in 2007, a year before he was named Selangor menteri besar.

Bank Islam is 100 percent owned by BIMB Holdings Bhd (BHB), which in turn is 54 percent-owned by Lembaga Urusan Tabung Haji.

Other BIMB shareholders are Employers Provident Fund, Permodalan Nasional Bhd and Amanah Saham Bumiputera.

Summary judgment quashed in 2010

In March 2010, Khalid succeeded in getting his Court of Appeal application to quash a summary judgment instructing him to pay the bank RM66.67 million, and the matter proceded to trial.

There were two suits filed on the matter, one by the bank and another by Khalid who filed a counter-suit over alleged wrongful sale of his shares under the Al-Bai Bithaman Ajil (BBA) facility.

He reportedly confirmed that an out-of-court settlement was brokered on Feb 14, but stressed that it is unrelated to the state.

Earlier, Abdul Khalid said that the water reserves in Selangor would be able to sustain demand for another five months even if the dry season continues.

“In these past three months we did not panic because usually April is a rainy season. So the issue of water shortage should not arise then,” he said during the water briefing.

He said that the Meteorological Department had confirmed that the dry season is only expected to last until the end of next month.