KUALA LUMPUR – After his failed bid to become Umno’s president in the party’s 2018 polls, Khairy Jamaluddin now appears to be using Sg Buloh as his stepping stone to helm the Barisan Nasional linchpin and realise his ambition to become prime minister.
The caretaker health minister, however, is well aware that he faces a plethora of hurdles to ascend to the top posts.
Before Khairy can even imagine leading the party and taking office, the 46-year-old faces a seven-cornered fight in a constituency that has long been a Pakatan Harapan (PH) stronghold.
Should he win in Sg Buloh, Khairy will need to challenge Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s leadership in Umno’s upcoming internal elections, the first of which is due to take place within six months from the national polls.
Yet, in what seems to be a desperate attempt to woo votes, Khairy may have jumped the gun in mentioning his “five to 10-year” goal of being prime minister, as his adversaries within and from outside Umno may now gather ammunition to thwart his efforts.
Furthermore, Khairy’s direct opponents in the constituency, such as PKR’s Datuk R. Ramanan, have also accused him of being “power-hungry” for posts, instead of acting in the interests of the people.
His opponents have also sold Khairy as a parachute candidate in Sg Buloh after he was moved out of his three-term constituency in Rembau to make way for Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan to contest in the Negri Sembilan seat.
Khairy has admitted that he had “no choice” but to stand in Sg Buloh after the party’s decision, but Zahid contradicted this by saying that Khairy asked him for the seat and that he should “be thankful” for being fielded there.
However, is this fair for the voters in Sg Buloh, who are unsuspectingly being dragged into a battle that is not theirs?
The scrum for control of Umno also distracts from the real issues plaguing the constituency: unemployment, affordable housing, flooding, and traffic jams, among others.
Realising his uphill battle for Sg Buloh, Khairy on Sunday pleaded with PAS and Pakatan Harapan (PH) supporters to vote for him as he was afraid of the split votes, which would lead to his defeat.
He also said that PH supporters may be facing a dilemma in supporting either a party or candidate.
Tough fight for Khairy?
Along with Ramanan, Khairy’s seven-cornered contest includes Pejuang’s Mohd Akmal Mohd Yusof, Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Mohd Ghazali Md Hamin, Ahmad Jufliz Faiza of Party Rakyat Malaysia, and independents Abdul Razak Syed Long and Nurhaslinda Basri.
Ramanan’s predecessor, R. Sivarasa – a three-term MP in the constituency – had won with an overwhelming majority of 26,634 votes out of a total 77,951 ballots cast, while PAS’ Nuridah Mohd Salleh gained (16,997), followed by MIC candidate Pakas Rao Applanaidoo’s 16,681, and a mere 642 votes for Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Zainurizzaman Moharam.
Currently, Sg Buloh’s electoral roll stands at 156,806 voters, of which 42,958 are those aged between 21 and 29, while another 12,648 are first-time voters aged between 18 and 20.
Although Khairy enjoys a strong social media presence due to his “celebrity status”, ground sentiments against his party and coalition – owing to a list of corruption scandals and apparent shortfalls in addressing rising costs of living – remain strong.
Undoubtedly, Khairy has been a magnet for “selfies” during his daily rounds in Sg Buloh, but the BN candidate has found himself having to rely on coalition machinery from neighbouring Segambut and Shah Alam to make up the numbers in some campaign appearances.
Fortunately for Khairy, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has given him an endorsement, as evident on Monday evening when the caretaker prime minister joined Khairy for dinner at a hawker centre, followed by a visit to the Uptown Kota Damansara night market nearby where they were greeted by around 600 people, mostly BN card-carrying members.
New alliances to oust Zahid
It is no secret that Khairy and Zahid have been at loggerheads, as only last year, Khairy said he remained supportive of Umno but “had trust issues” with the party president.
The president, on the other hand, has recently poured cold water on Khairy’s ambitions, telling his fellow party man to win the polls first.
Adding to their conflicting statements on the candidacy in the urban seat, Khairy had also stated his intention to “cleanse” Umno of certain unpopular individuals.
Like some other Umno leaders, Zahid forms part of the party’s court cluster faced with a litany of graft-related charges.
Interestingly, an image of Zahid’s face had been ripped off from one of BN’s campaign vehicles in Sg Buloh, although it is uncertain whether it was done deliberately or whether it was coincidental.
In another slap to Zahid’s face yesterday, Khairy told BFM 89.9's Breakfast Grill that Ismail Sabri – who is currently Umno vice-president – must lead the party if he becomes prime minister after GE15 as there “must not be a dichotomy anymore between president of the party and leader of government”.
Thus, new camps within Umno may already be on the horizon, and Khairy may seek endorsements from Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, or Barisan Nasional’s treasurer-general Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein, as party insiders have pointed out.
Throughout his campaign, embattled Selangor BN chief Tan Sri Noh Omar – a known Umno “warlord” – was also seen backing Khairy, despite having not been fielded by Zahid to contest for another term in Tg Karang.
Outside Umno, Khairy may have other backers, such as PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, a former Umno strongman, who appointed Khairy as the science, technology, and innovation minister tasked with rolling out the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme last year.
Recently asked about Khairy making his ambitions public, Muhyiddin lauded the Sg Buloh hopeful as someone “capable” of handling the prime ministerial role due to his “excellent” track record as a minister.
For some observers, this may come with little surprise, as the Khairy-Muhyiddin relationship has remained cordial ever since Khairy – who was then Umno youth chief – was seen consoling and escorting Muhyiddin to his vehicle when the latter was sacked from Umno at the behest of Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2016.
Aside from Muhyiddin, Khairy may also find sympathy and support from other disgruntled former and present Umno leaders, such as Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim and Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, among other opponents of Zahid.
But whatever alliances Khairy may seek in realising his ambition and introducing his so-called “winds of change” promises in Sg Buloh, the young leader is almost certainly set to face a storm of resistance from his party’s upper echelons. – The Vibes, November 16, 2022
