NOBODY saw him coming, but by sheer opportunism, he did, and now, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is yet another protagonist in this exhausting “I want to be prime minister” drama.
At his Tuesday meeting with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the 83-year-old Kelantan prince offered his “sacrifice” to end the tumult started by PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s bid to unseat Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
On paper, Tengku Razaleigh, popularly referred to as Ku Li, has an impressive resume.
How many can claim to have come close to his achievement of winning the Gua Musang parliamentary seat – previously known as Ulu Kelantan Barat – in 12 general elections since 1969?
Tight is his grip on the constituency, which he retained even after leaving Umno and contesting on the ticket of its splinter party, Semangat 46 (S46), in 1990 and 1995, following the Team A v Team B sparring in the Barisan Nasional lynchpin over Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s leadership in 1987.
S46 was eventually dissolved, and Ku Li rejoined Umno and contested for the party in 1999. His best electoral performance, however, was in 1990, when he got the support of 76.28% of constituents despite going against the Malay giant.
While the longest-serving MP has seen nothing but unremitting victories in his career, it has not been so for Umno in Kelantan.
In the 14 state elections Kelantan has held since 1955, Umno – via the Alliance coalition that was renamed BN in 1969 – managed to best PAS only four times, in 1955, 1978, 1982 and 1986.
Alliance’s victory in 1974 does not count, as PAS, which won the most seats back then – 22 to Umno’s 13 – was part of the ruling pact.
So, why should Umno’s failure to capture the state matter with regard to Ku Li’s purported bid to become prime minister?
The answer is simple. In Malaysia – at least in the peninsula – Malays have and always will be the kingmaker. Not Umno. Not PAS. Not PKR. Not Bersatu. And most definitely, not Amanah or Pejuang.
It does not take a political pundit to figure this out. The 14th general election already attested to the community’s political power.
It was their vote that allowed Umno-BN to rule uninterrupted since 1957, and it was their vote that brought the coalition down to its knees on May 9, 2018.
And, the defeat of Pakatan Harapan in four by-elections in 2019 vividly illustrated Malays’ boiling unhappiness with the then government, which collapsed on February 24 this year due to a drawn-out power intrigue.
Like Kedah and Terengganu, Kelantan is overwhelmingly Malay.
If Ku Li, in his 51-year stint as an elected representative, has failed to woo Malays there and convince them to vote against PAS, how well will he inspire Malays in other states to support Umno?
The last election he contested was the 2018 Umno presidential polls, where he came in last, getting only 30 of the 191 party division votes. This speaks volumes. – The Vibes, October 18, 2020
