The latest episode of Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin taking two months off indicates his deteriorating relationship with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, claimed an opposition leader today.

"There is a split between the two top leaders of the country," DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang said at a press conference at the party headquarters in Petaling Jaya.

Lim urged both top ministers to stop playing "political games" as Malaysia is in the midst of economic and political problems.

"The country is already facing an economic crisis because of the US economic slowdown and the worst erosion of public confidence in the nation; this is no time for any political games between them," he said.

Yesterday, Mahathir said Daim would be on leave for two months starting last week, adding that it was not a prelude to the finance minister resigning from cabinet.

He said Daim would only be exempted from cabinet and Umno supreme council meetings but would continue to "look at documents and letters at the office" and as such there was no need to appoint an acting minister.

'Ridiculous' behaviour

It was reported that the country's economic czar would be represented in cabinet by Entrepreneur Development Minister Nazri Aziz.

"It is most ridiculous. Daim is taking leave for two months without an acting minister and would be represented by a comparatively junior minister instead. At the same time he is going to the office to 'look at the documents' but not signing them nor attending cabinet meetings," he said.

Lim criticised both Mahathir and Daim for their "ridiculous" behaviour and for undermining the investors' confidence in the shaky stock market, which remain unchanged amid speculation of Daim's resignation while all major Asian stock markets experienced soaring composite indices over the past couple of days following a spurt in Wall Street.

Lim said Daim's decision to go on leave had raised the question of whether he will attend Parliament on Monday for the presentation of the Eighth Malaysia Plan (8MP).

"Will Daim be there (Parliament) on Monday for Mahathir's presentation of 8MP or has he taken leave from Parliament and disclaimed his personal responsibility to Parliament and the country's finance as well?" he questioned.

The five-year 8MP is expected to contain the necessary preparations for Malaysia to become a knowledge-based society as proposed in the Third Outline Perspective Plan (OPP3) unveiled on April 3.

Indicators

Lim cited the bank-merger plan two years ago as an example of Mahathir and Daim's differing views on economic policies. He added that the appointment of former central bank governor Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman as the prime minister's economic adviser on Tuesday had worsened the relationship between the both.

"Ali Abul Hassan used to be allied to Daim, but then he began to disagree with Daim and sided with Mahathir on many policies. For instance, in the case of the bank mergers, Daim wanted only six anchor banks but Mahathir insisted on 10.

"Ali Abul Hassan supported Mahathir's idea. His recent appointment as the economic adviser to Mahathir had made Daim feel uncomfortable and sidelined," he said.

Lim said the announcement of the RM3 billion stimuli package by Mahathir last month - apparently without Daim's involvement - was not only a sign of disrespect to the finance minister but was also indicative of their divide.

He added the fact that the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) two-percent cut should have been approved and announced by the finance minister but was done by Mahathir instead, showed the executive power is getting more concentrated in the prime minister's hand.

"The prime minister is becoming more powerful than other cabinet members and now maybe, even more powerful than the finance minister," he said.