BARISAN Nasional’s leaders are having a go at him because they fear his impact campaigning for Pakatan Harapan, says Daim Zainuddin.

The former finance minister said their reactions clearly showed their fear of the impact Umno veterans would have on the Malay ground campaigning against BN.

“I read in a paper that a professor said all of this had no influence, and that we were only causing trouble.

“I want to answer: if we are rubbish, why do you care?

“If Dr Mahathir (Mohamad), Rafidah Aziz, and myself are not important… why are you making noise?” he asked in a programme with the people of Kg Sungai Bujang in Merbok, Kedah, today.

BN-controlled mainstream media have given Daim selective coverage, turning to analysts to dismiss his impact on the outcome of the polls.

Kedah Umno liaison chief Ahmad Bashah had dismissed talk of Kedah falling to the opposition as wishful thinking from Daim.

Umno secretary general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor had said Daim was being watched by the party, which would not hesitate to take action because Daim was still a member.

Daim has appeared at PH’s campaigns in Pendang, Kubang Pasu, and Lembah Pantai, after meeting with the people in Langkawi.

Yesterday, he appeared at a programme with PH chairman Dr Mahathir in Pekan, the constituency of Umno president and caretaker prime minister Najib Razak.

He will make an appearance in Melaka tonight with Dr Mahathir and former Wanita Umno chief Rafidah Aziz.

In an exclusive interview with Singaporean daily The Straits Times today, Daim, who had accurately predicted the results for GE12 and GE13, said that BN would lose the general election on May 9.

He said the people’s anger towards the coalition on the rising cost of living and the scandals that had plagued it over the last five years would do it in.

Daim rebutted Najib’s claim yesterday that PH would shut down Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) if it captured Putrajaya.

“Who made it a university? Why would Dr Mahathir want to shut down UiTM?

“Don’t lie. This is what I call ‘fake news’,” he said. – May 4, 2018.