PAKATAN Harapan leaders should not be concerned about Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s decision to send Daim Zainuddin as his envoy to China as “backchannel diplomacy” is the common practice of leaders worldwide, said a political analyst.

Daim, who heads the five-man Council of Eminent Persons (CEP), was recently in China to kickstart renegotiations over several mammoth projects Dr Mahathir has halted since coming into power on May 9.

Critics have raised accountability issues, fearing the council would be allowed to influence policy decisions.

The Barisan Nasional opposition has criticised the government for picking Daim, who does not have an official position in the administration, to represent the country.

James Chin, director at Asia Institute Tasmania of the University of Tasmania, said it was “very normal” for countries to send envoys without official authority to negotiate deals ahead of meetings between the heads of states .

“Daim should be allowed to float ideas with the Chinese to see what they are thinking before the government makes any formal trip or decision,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Chin said such dealings were commonly referred to as “backchannel diplomacy”, where non-state representatives are used to resolve conflict without the requirements of formal negotiation.

“Leaders around the world will always have their advisors. It’s not possible to take away the role of these advisers, who may have access to or influence with the leaders of another country. They have a wider latitude for discussions,” he said.

“It is common and expected of every political system and I feel quite strongly that Malaysians have little to worry about.”

Putrajaya suspended the China-backed East Coast Rail Link project on July 3, citing its exorbitant costs as the main reason.

Daim, who is a former finance minister, met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other ministry officials during a trip to Beijing on July 18.

Dr Mahathir had said that Daim’s trip was to renegotiate loans and contracts signed with Chinese firms under the Najib Razak administration. Affected Chinese firms include China Railway Construction Corporation, China Railway Engineering Corporation and China Communications Construction Company.

The CEP, which was specially set up to advised the government in its first 100 days in office, is made up of former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, former Petronas CEO Hassan Marican, billionaire tycoon Robert Kuok and former United Nations assistant secretary-general for economic development Jomo Kwame Sundaram.

CEP critics include Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa and the party’s former youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, and recent media report have quoted unnamed sources as saying senior PH leaders were also becoming uncomfortable with Daim’s apparent influence. 

Chin dismissed the such claims of unease, saying the PH leaders  were consulted before the council was formed.

“If anything else, it’s civil society that is concerned about the CEP because it wasn’t announced in Pakatan’s manifesto,” he said.

Chin said the country would in fact be better served if the advisory council were to continue to exist in some form at the lapse of 100 days.

“In fact, the CEP is more accountable and more open than in the previous administration where people who advised the government also get under-the-table deals,” he said.

“And if there was no CEP, Mahathir would still tap advise from Daim because they go a long way back to his first administration. It’s better to have an advisory body where things are more transparent.” – July 25, 2018.