Hadi shares 'moment of friendship' with Daim

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has shared his moment of friendship with Council of Eminent Persons chairperson Daim Zainuddin through his social media accounts.

Hadi uploaded three pictures of him sharing laughter with Daim. The duo was pictured together at a table in an event believed to be the "Bumiputera Economy National Agenda" talk in Terengganu yesterday.

The post, which was uploaded yesterday, came with a caption: "Celebrating Tun Daim Zainuddin who was present at Wisma Darul Iman."

Hadi further said he and Daim shared many stories in a friendly manner (penuh kemesraan) in his posting with the picture.

"I hope Tun (Daim) will be granted good health and blessing from Allah," he said.

Daim, a right-hand man to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had led the re-negotiation of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project with Beijing.

The revised ECRL route will be 40km shorter than the original 668km, and will link Kota Bharu to Port Klang via Mentakab, Jelebu, Kuala Kelawang and Bangi/Putrajaya.

Kelantan elated with ECRL resumption

Kelantan is elated with Putrajaya's decision to resume the project, with its Menteri Besar Ahmad Yakob saying the project would hugely benefit the PAS-led state's economy.

"The Kelantan government would like to record our greatest appreciation to the federal government on its decision to build two ECRL stations in this state, namely the Kota Bharu and Tok Bali stations.

"In the state government's view, this decision will bring a big impact to the majority of Kelantan's citizens, especially in terms of new job opportunities in multiple disciplines related to construction and transportation," Ahmad Yakob had said in a statement.

Previously, Hadi had shown that he maintained a good relationship with Mahathir and had made courtesy visits to him in June last year and last February.

He had also backed Mahathir when Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar called Mahathir "a former dictator" during her interview with the Singapore's The Straits Times.

"I want to comment about statements claiming Mahathir is a dictator. He is not. He is being firm.

"He was chosen democratically in an election, and also by Pakatan Harapan. He didn't appoint himself," Hadi had said.

However, their relationship raised eyebrows when in February, Mahathir claimed that Hadi conveyed to him during their meeting that PAS would not support Umno in the Semenyih by-election.

However, the two opposition parties proceeded to cooperate and Umno went on to win in the by-election.