Khairul quitting a slap in Najib’s face

Young Umno lawyer being blamed for the PM failing to turn up at the Nothing2Hide Public Forum at PWTC on June 5.

KUALA LUMPUR: It was noteworthy, said a political analyst, that Khairul Anwar who organised the aborted June 5 Nothing2Hide Public Forum, has issued a statement in support of the Tengku Mahkota Johor that “a leader must place service to the people above all” while at the same time withdrawing from all his posts in Umno. “It was the Tengku Mahkota that criticized Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for failing to turn up at the Forum. That brought Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz into the picture in a war of words with the Tengku Mahkota.”

“Had Khairul not been so gatal mulut (itchy mouth) in pitting Najib and former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad against each other at the Forum, the pro-Najib critics say the event would have proceeded as originally scheduled.”

Whatever the reasons for a young leader like Khairul with so much potential to take these decisions, he added, was a slap in the face for the Prime Minister who wants to restore his public image in the wake of the scandal-ridden 1MDB affair continuing to hog the public limelight. “Khairul’s withdrawal shows that there’s no safe place for anyone who begs to differ with Najib or has been linked with efforts to bring down his public image.”

“He’s being blamed for verbally inviting former Prime Minister Mahathir during a press conference three days before the June 5 Nothing2Hide Public Forum. He’s also being blamed for stating that Mahathir could ask Najib anything that he wanted to know on the scandal-ridden 1MDB.”

Shahbudin Husin was commenting on the fact that Khairul has suddenly, without any sound or warning, decided to step down as Umno Youth Chief of the Kluang Division and vice chief of Umno Youth Johore effective July 2. “It seems that he wants to give priority to expanding his law practice to Europe and the Middle East,” recalled Shahbudin in his latest blog posting. “It appears that what he actually wants to do has been affected so far by his political activities.”

Shahbudin added that no one will buy Khairul’s reasons for giving up several posts in Umno. “The general feeling is that something doesn’t smell right.”

If Khairul wants to take his law practice abroad as part of expansion plans, he pointed out, it makes more sense to keep all the posts that he wants to give up as they will in fact support him in reaching the objective that he has set for himself in developing his professional career.

The consensus, said the political analyst, is that if the Nothing2Hide Public Forum had not become so controversial, Khairul would not be giving up so many posts in Umno.

Again, the consensus is that Khairul was giving up all those posts in Umno come July 2 following pressure from certain quarters close to Najib who are unhappy that the Forum has shamed the Prime Minister and affected his public image as a “Bugis warrior known for his bravery”.

“It was also likely that after being continuously blamed for the aborted Forum, Khairul became fed-up and finally decided on his own accord to give up all his posts in Umno to get the pro-Najib critics off his back.”

He conceded that when it was known that Mahathir would be attending the Forum and it became the focus of public attention, and Najib also decided against turning up on security grounds, Khairul was blamed by the pro-Najib people as the gathering was supposed to be confined to NGOs who had been invited.

Shahbudin reiterated that the Nothing2Hide Public Forum only became controversial when Mahathir took Najib’s place at the rostrum after the Prime Minister failed to turn up after earlier agreeing to be at the Putra World Trade Centre, at the heart of the Umno Headquarters, to tell all on the 1MDB scandal. “Mahathir was about ten minutes into his public address when he was escorted off the stage by police,” recalled Shahbudin.

It was a double blow.

Not only did Najib not turn up, but Mahathir was escorted off the stage to prevent him regaling the participants with what he knows on the 1MDB scandal.

Not surprisingly, said the analyst, Najib has continued to be criticized since then as afraid, a coward, when much had been made earlier of the fact that there was Nothing2Hide and that he was ready and willing to answer everything and anything and anybody on 1MDB which has been haunting the nation because of the RM42 billion debts it had chalked up within the first five years of its operations.