WILL KU LI THROW HIS HAT INTO THE RING?

Ian McIntyre, The Heat Online

Twenty-eight years ago, a Kelantanese and a Kedahan clashed in a “bruising” battle to lead Umno and Malaysia.

The battle has come to shape what is today defined as an acute disposition of our political scene where leadership skills seem to be lacking in the face of adverse challenges.

Now in 2015, the one-time foes may be forced to join forces to lead the country.

In 1987, the global economy slid after the “Black Monday” stock market crash in the United States, while Malaysia was distracted by the aftermath of a financial scandal from the now defunct Bank Bumiputra.

Malaysia went into a form of recession as the global crude oil prices also began to tumble. Sounds familiar?

Well, today, the economy is also faltering somewhat from a commodities slump. Oil prices continue to fall and the ringgit has devalued to 17-year lows primarily due to political uncertainty and economic woes.

And yes, there is now another monetary scandal – the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and the issue with RM2.6 billion in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal accounts.

CIMB Banking Group chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Nazir Razak has said continuing negative sentiments are driving the ringgit down.

So Malaysia’s political personalities –Kelantan’s prince, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah or Ku Li as he is fondly known, and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Kedah’s political kingmaker and the country’s longest-serving former prime minister are coming together.

The two are now mulling over working together in what is said to be a last ditch attempt to set the country back on a progressive and stable path.

And this time, their collaboration may be genuine unlike previous false starts, say insiders who are close to both of them.

Now, the “the surgical strike” as the insiders call it, may involve isolating the party that both of them made a name from – Umno.

Umno is mostly behind the man that Ku Li and Mahathir want out – Najib. He is a leader whom both veterans had mentored at some point in their political careers.

However, Najib of today has allegedly gone off track. His policies are backfiring and allegedly threaten the country’s wellbeing.

It is learnt that interim discussions between Ku Li and Mahathir had explored two possible scenarios to democratically oust Najib. The first is via a vote of no confidence by the majority of the 222 parliamentarians.

The second is to draw support from Barisan Nasional component parties and the Opposition to form an interim national unity federal government to restore international confidence in Malaysia.

The proposed new Cabinet will also consist of all political parties that have sizeable representation in parliament.

On the question of Ku Li helming the Cabinet, critics seem to doubt he has the energy for the job in view of his age at 78 years, despite admitting he has the experience to handle it.

Whilst the two scenarios do not directly involve Umno as a main player, certain quarters in that party have to give their nod for either one to happen.

Ku Li has also finally come to his own as two Opposition parties – DAP and PAS – say they are comfortable with him as prime minister.

He had edged out his one-time rival Che Det on the Internet giant – Google search results, logging in some 25,400,000 worth of enquiries compared to the latter with only 468,000.

Such results, however, vary daily as it is based on how many times internet users have searched distinctive keywords.

Ku Li’s personal aide, Dr Lukman Abdul Ghani, was bemused and brushed off such Internet trends as “just the news of the hour” which may filter away in days to come.

The loyal assistant was also quick to point out that the late South African leader Nelson Mandela became the country’s president when he was around the same age as Ku Li.

And in China, only veterans aged in their 70s are appointed or collectively agreed upon within the system to lead the nation.

More quarters have now begun to envision the Kelantan prince as the rightful heir to the prime ministership after Mahathir, thus his popularity on the search engine.

Insiders also say another attributing factor that makes Ku Li attractive is that many Netizens have expressed loss in faith in the abilities of other leaders.

After all, Ku Li’s loyalists often exclaim that it was Mahathir who had won the Umno presidency by the skin of his teeth, edging Ku Li with the simplest of majority – 43 votes.

It also comes on the heels of the less than satisfactory prime ministership of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib.

Naturally, the discussions have centred on setting the country back on its course, and for Ku Li to be an interim prime minister to put the country back on track before calling for a snap general election, when he hands over the mantle to the rightful winners.

By then, the economy should have been “rebooted” for economic growth and the downward spiral nipped.

The plan sounds good on paper, but in reality it may not work.

Firstly, the insiders claim that Ku Li’s camp remains distrustful of Mahathir. They feel that both cannot forgive each other over the 1987 episode which brought Umno to a brink of shutdown.

“Till now Mahathir has never declared that he will openly back Ku Li for prime minister. He has mentioned other names too,” says one insider.

And according to them, any plan to change the country’s leadership must go through Umno. The party is a powerful component of the political landscape, and remains firmly behind Najib.

When Abdullah initially resisted stepping down, it was sacked deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was then an Umno vice-president, who had begun to clamour for change. Abdullah finally relented and stepped down.

“Umno must accept that Malaysia has to be revitalised. Otherwise any plan to replace Najib will become a mission impossible.”

This is true unless Ku Li and Mahathir muster the necessary resources to tell Najib to step aside.

Najib, on the other hand, believes he has no reason to step down as he has the support of both the party and Cabinet.