Shahidan Kassim said the government should thank Daim for using his vast banking and economic experience to help rebuild the country.
“Many have objected to this council but I fully support it.
“Daim also has high-level contacts like Robert Kuok who can help us.”
“In the end, Tun (Mahathir Mohamad) is the prime minister who calls the shots,” he told FMT.
The Arau MP said this after BN members questioned the council’s accountability and whether it was acting beyond its role as an advisory body.
He said the government should be thanking Daim for being generous enough to allow the government to use his office, Menara Ilham, here, instead of opening another office.
Shahidan also thanked Daim for helping him during the late 1990s when he was Perlis menteri besar.
He said due to the recession at that time, the northern state’s economy was slowing down and “it was Daim who helped us to inject money into Perlis by bringing in investors. It created jobs and brought money into the state.”
He said Daim also brought in public projects to build universities, polytechnics and learning institutions.
“There were jobs and higher education. I really thank him.”
Two former BN ministers have demanded an explanation from the government on the “actual role” of the council following Daim’s trip to China last month.
They wondered if the council had now become the fourth branch of government.
Mahathir had said Daim had gone to China to discuss contracts awarded by the previous administration, and to personally deliver a letter to the Chinese premier.
MCA deputy president Wee Ka Siong and a former Umno Youth chief had questioned the need for the “non-legally binding” CEP to carry out bilateral work with China.
They argued that the government already had a foreign affairs ministry and ample representatives in place to do this. They also questioned the CEP was acting beyond its advisory role.
A report also said the council was calling the shots, instead of Mahathir, in running the country.