GENDA

 This is Dato Hamzah Zainuddin. Member of Parliament for Larut since 2008 and now the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. My late friend Wan Shahrir Wan Abdul Jalil (Bersatu) and I used to refer to Hamzah as "Genda".

Hamzah was Minister of Home Affairs for over two years until GE15.  Listen to this very brief video.

 

Hamzah is sharp as a tack.  We referred him as 'Genda' because Hamzah was the brains behind many a thing in Bersatu.

Commander Genda Minoru (as I have mentioned before) was the tactician in the Imperial Japanese Navy who formulated the detailed planning and execution of the attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7th 1941.  

So Hamzah is now leader of the Opposition. How did he get there? Who selected him as Leader of the Opposition? Usually the head of the opposition party with the most number of seats in Parliament should also be leader of the Opposition. That would be that lebai fellow.  But that lebai fellow does not know head or tail of anything.

The next spot should go to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin the president of Bersatu, the next biggest opposition party in Parliament. That did not happen either. Instead Hamzah Zainuddin who is secretary general of Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional was selected to be the leader of the Opposition.

The leader of the Opposition usually has a good chance of becoming prime minister should his party win the elections or is able to assemble a majority coalition.  So this is a man to watch.

Hamzah has a very long history with that other fellow. In his early days Hamzah was a close supporter.  Then Hamzah parted company. There was also the case of the "ajak minum teh" phone call or phone calls.  A man who "sounds like him" called up Hamah's wife and asked her to "ajak you minum teh".  'Ajak minum teh' is mentioned 14 times in that conversation. The late professor who I knew for so long also listened to that tape and told me 'Yes thats him'.  

Here is the real story. To believe that PAS is the most popular party in the country is a complete misnomer.  Too many 'analysts' appear to be quite misled by the fact that PAS has won 49 seats in Parliament and are now the single largest party in Parliament.

This is incorrect. For the GE15 PAS abandoned their party name and their party logo and instead stood under Perikatan Nasional which is clearly identified with Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.  

The 49 seats won by PAS were from disgruntled Malay voters who had turned away from UMNO/BN. They looked to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional. The lebai fellows also sensed this mood among the Malays and took advantage of the situation.  The lebais decided to sail under the PN flag and it has paid major dividends.

If the lebais stick with PN for the next elections they may likely win again. But if for whatever reason the PN breaks up, then the lebais will lose their seats again. In the long run it is better for Bersatu to break with PAS. But on the other hand is also useful to keep your enemies close.

For the Malay voters the strength in Perikatan Nasional is Bersatu and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. Not the lebais. 

Just like in 2018 the strength in Pakatan Harapan was Dr Mahathir and Bersatu but running under the PKR banner. In 2018 the Malays actually voted for Dr Mahathir. Hence PKR won 47 seats in 2018 - the largest party in Parliament. On the other hand PAS won only 18 seats in 2018. 

In 2022 minus Dr Mahathir and Bersatu in PH, the PKR has won only 31 seats - down by 16 seats from 2018.  And even Nurul Izzah lost in their "family home seat" of Permatang Pauh. 

And now conceding the role of Leader of the Opposition to Hamzah Zainuddin is further acknowledgement that the real power behind the throne is Bersatu. Plus Genda. Also that there is a succession in Bersatu. If Tan Sri Muhyiddin concedes his position in Bersatu, Genda will take over.

Listen to Genda again. "I am the Ketua Pembangkang now."

The other fellow does look nervous. 

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.