Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam, who was forced to drop out of the Umno deputy presidential race amid allegations of 'money politics', is again in the spotlight after throwing a super-sized attention-grabbing wedding banquet for his son.
Speculation is swirling that he might targeting one of the party's topmost positions when internal polls are held next year latest by October 2013.
Malaysians are also wondering where Ali got the money for the dinner, which drew a crowd of 130,000 guests. The event which took place at the Dewan Tun Ali Bukit Katil, Ayer Keroh in Malacca has even made it to the Malaysia Book of Records.
“Itu duit siapa? (Whose money is it?)” Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming asked on Twitter.
Running mate but for which team?
An affable man, known for his networking skills, Ali had drawn huge crowds to hisceramah or political talks, prompting fears among rival factions that he would beat Muhyiddin Yassin for the No. 2 post.
Another factor weighing against Ali at that time was his close ties to outgoing Umno president Abdullah Badawi, who had been blamed for party's worst-ever electoral performance during the 2008 general elections.
Speculation had then been rife that former president Mahathir Mohamad preferred to reward Muhyiddin with the deputy presidency after the latter spoke out against Badawi, helping to trigger his ouster.
Prime Minister Najib Razak then took over from Badawi in April 2009, while Muhyiddin became the DPM after securing the Umno deputy presidency with Ali out of the way.
There are now clear signs that Muhyiddin will challenge Najib for the presidency. It is not impossible that Ali Rustam might be eyeing the No. 2 spot, if not the presidency itself.
"130,000 people is a huge number. It shows Ali's popularity and grassroots support is intact despite being found guilty of money politics. This is something both Najib and Muhyiddin should worry about because they have both lost tremendous ground due to incompetency," an Umno watcher told Malaysia Chronicle.
"If there are no kingmakers like Mahathir around intervening at the highest levels, and it is a case of the most popular man wins, then Ali Rustam would win the Umno presidency hands down. But chances are, he will form a pact with either Muhyiddin or Najib. It all depends on what they offer each other. He can be Muhyddin's running mate to take on Najb or be Najib's new running mate to stave off a Muhyiddin challenge. We have to wait and see."
RM1.3 million to RM13 million for a wedding dinner!
Meanwhile, Kor Ming's DAP colleague, Lim Kit Siang, reckons the cost of the Ali banquet could potentially hit RM13million just for the food if Ali had ordered a menu costing RM100 per head.
But even at RM10 per head, the cost would still be a staggering RM1.3million, noted Lim who is also the Ipoh Timur MP.
Rushing to the Chief Minister's defense was Malacca Umno executive secretary Akbar Ali, who played down the costs. Akbar said the Opposition leaders should not assume the wedding banquet would cost the same as a Chinese dinner.
However, Akbar did not reveal what the final costs were. And as PKR MP for Gopeng Lee Boon Chye pointed out, it could have been even more!
"I think we should not underestimate the costs of Malay dinners versus Chinese dinners. It is typical of Umno to resort to racial sentiments whenever they want to hide from allegations of corruption. Instead of riling up the Chinese, why not provide details to the people and have it audited if they are not convinced," Lee told Malaysia Chronicle.
The wedding banquet was for Mohd Ali’s son Mohd Ridhwan, 26, who married Nur Azieha Mohd Ali, also 26. Among those who attended were the Selangor Sultan, the Malacca Yang di-Pertua Negeri and Deputy Home Minister Datuk Abu Seman Yusop.
Malaysia Chronicle
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