Umno Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin shot back at veteran leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah for suggesting that his support for Prime Minister Najib Razak was rooted in a desire to secure a Cabinet post, and not because he truly believed in the latter’s policies.
The 34-year old Khairy's twitter retaliation began gently enough, with him counter-accusing Ku Li (as Razaleigh is also known) of trying to topple Najib from the Umno presidency.
“Because I choose not to be part of a coup Tengku Razaleigh is trying to orchestrate, my support for the PM is dismissed as superficial,” Khairy, an active user of the micro-blogging site, tweeted to his followers.
Not a void I want to fill
But as they responded, Khairy became upset and personal in his remarks, even taking a swipe at the Kelantan prince through his former personal aide John Pang.
“I guess without John Pang tweeting liberal thoughts on his behalf, Tengku Razaleigh is still stuck in a bigoted, analogue worldview,” Khairy got off his chest.
Ku Li had told Malaysian Insider in an interview that Umno Youth under Khairy's leadership had failed to champion the Malay cause as it traditionally does.
“With due respect, Tengku Razaleigh is way off here. If that is the void that needs filling, I don't want to fill it,” Khairy tweeted.
New mould
Indeed, the son-in-law of former prime minister Abdullah Badawi has chosen a vastly different path from his predecessors, opting to co-operate with his peers in the BN coalition.
In recent days, he and a few other senior Umno leaders including Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz have rallied behind Najib, whose unifying 1Malaysia slogan has come under increasing fire from Perkasa.
Perkasa founder-chief Ibrahim Ali had flayed the MCA and MIC for daring to ask for more educational opportunities for their communities.
Said Ku Li: “There is a vacuum in Umno Youth, when it should be the spokesman for the Malays. But the present Umno Youth leadership does not articulate the Malay plight.
“This is splitting the strength of Umno. This sounds very pathetic, they say he wants to become minister, so that’s why he has to support the prime minister, at least that’s what people say.”
Coup d'etat
Indeed, Khairy sticks out for not having any official position despite winning the Youth Chief post.
Pundits say Najib had to bow to former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who had insisted his son Mukhriz be given a deputy minister’s post despite losing to Khairy in the contest for the top Youth post.
“I don't want to have to say why Ku Li refers to me superficially supporting PM. Refers to me not wanting any part of his coup d'etat,” responded Khairy.
He did not mention what he meant by the coup d’etat but there have been rumblings that deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin – with the backing of Mahathir – were stepping efforts to oust the scandal-plagued Najib.
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