Critics say the reforms will focus more power in the president's hands and this will frighten off foreign investors.

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Businessmen protest that attempts to prosecute former officials and their cronies for corruption have broadened into witch hunts that frighten off investment.

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Moreover, they will get the money up-front, giving them a war chest likely to frighten off many firms thinking of entering the state's electricity market.

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It has attracted little foreign investment and can ill afford to ignore international complaints about its democracy, because this would frighten off both potential overseas investors and foreign aid.

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Although Mr Barrett was not actually chosen by the unions, the governor argues that the unions want to unseat him in order to frighten off any other politician who dares take on collective bargaining.

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Mr Birnbaum initially tried to frighten Mr Paulson a Goldman client into backing off from his audacious trade, but when the fund manager held firm Mr Birnbaum was persuaded of its merits and began to copy him instead.

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