KUALA LUMPUR – Khairy Jamaluddin has plans to cleanse and course-correct Umno if he wins the Sg Buloh parliamentary seat in this general election (GE15) as his party is now “sesat” (lost).
The Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate also wants to ensure caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob continues to lead the country.
“Just that Umno is ‘sesat’ and has to return to the right path. Umno has to be fixed. But first I have to win the seat and ensure that Ismail Sabri returns as prime minister.
“Then we cleanse Umno and BN,” he was quoted as saying by Astro Awani when he spoke at Kelab Rahman Putra in Sg Buloh yesterday.
“I’m a reformist in Umno, (I) cannot stay quiet. Maybe that is why I was sent to (contest in) Sg Buloh.
He also admitted that running in Sg Buloh is the biggest challenge in his political career yet, but it is necessary.
He said he is unlike some leaders in Umno who only contest in safe seats.
“For the first time, a representative from my party with a position in cabinet is brave enough to contest (in a difficult seat) in Selangor.
“All this while, big names in my party always go for the safe seats. That is why there are no notable competitors in Selangor. At most, (Selangor Umno chief) Tan Sri Noh Omar will win – that will only be in Tg Karang.
“No one is brave enough to run in an urban seat like Sg Buloh. No one is brave enough to even contest in Kuala Selangor (previously), except for Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz now.
“Even though my statement differs from my president, it is me in the end who chose to contest here (Sg Buloh).”
He also hopes that Sg Buloh voters would be behind him in order to help lead the country in the future.
His main contender in the seven-cornered fight appears to be Datuk R. Ramanan of PKR.
According to statistics during the 14th general election in 2018, Malays make up 66% of the voting population, followed by 22% Chinese and 11% Indians, and 2% others.
Prior to nomination day on November 5, he was asked to make way for Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan in Rembau – a seat Khairy has held since 2008.
There had been murmurs that Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was looking to remove Khairy from the picture as a message to those aligned with Ismail Sabri, who has been reported to lead a separate faction within the party.
Khairy has also not held back from going against his own party leaders, including when he expressed dissatisfaction at Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s appointment as BN adviser in 2019, and contested the party presidency against Zahid in 2018, who was then the party number two. – The Vibes, November 12, 2022
