Khairy plays coy while Bersatu ups enticements

Former federal minister and Umno Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin is without party affiliation.

Defeated for an MP’s seat in GE15 last November and sacked from Umno a month later, the former Rembau MP has been treading the TV talk circuit to keep his name in circulation.

A couple of major political parties have signalled their interest in enlisting him, but Khairy is playing coy, the better to enhance his chances of getting in on high.

He wouldn’t want to be seen as struggling to climb the ladder in the party he chooses to join.

Khairy is widely regarded as prime ministerial timber, so the party he joins must afford him a clear sight of the top.

Even if it’s not a clear sight of the summit, Khairy is young enough, at 47, to keep his heels cooling in penultimate positions from which to vault to the top.

Three parties – Bersatu, PKR and DAP – would view Khairy as someone who will boost their pitch for votes, especially among the young, should he join their ranks.

Of the three, Bersatu appears the most eager to secure his allegiance because of Khairy’s stature as someone sacked from Umno for flagrant dissent with Umno’s president, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Political nemesis

To Bersatu, Zahid is an ogre, and Umno is a nemesis.

Hence a top-ranked politician who has clashed with the Umno supremo and been allowed by that party to be expelled would be a prized catch.

Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin is keen to lure Khairy to join because of his stature as an ostracised Umno rebel and his popularity with young voters.

But the former health minister must consider his ideological leanings and how this would comport with Bersatu, which is regarded as a right-wing Malay party.

Khairy is what you call a centrist who, had he been allowed to stay rather than sacked by Umno, would steer the party towards the centre and prevent it from veering to the extremes.

If he joins Bersatu, Khairy will find it challenging to go along with policy stances that hew to the right to draw the Malay vote.

Moreover, Bersatu’s alliance with PAS would complicate Khairy’s flight path to the country's premiership, best assayed by his espousal of policy positions and themes with middle Malaysia stamped on them.

Khairy’s marginalisation

Bersatu’s Malay rightist orientation will disadvantage Khairy, and PAS’s Islamism, given Abdul Hadi Awang’s stridency of late, would marginalise Khairy as a factor in Perikatan Nasional. the coalition which groups the two parties.

In short, Khairy can tantalise Bersatu with the possibility of joining them but should steer clear of full enlistment.

He could be like Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who spoke at PAS gatherings when sacked by Tunku Abdul Rahman’s Umno in 1969 but did not join the Islamic party.

Mahathir re-joined Umno in 1972 when Abdul Razak Hussain had already taken over from Tunku as Prime Minister. Umno Youth had mounted pressure for Mahathir’s reinstatement as a party member.

Bersatu’s offer to Khairy of a position in its supreme council ought not to entice Khairy to disregard his centrist leanings and join the rightist party.

The results of upcoming elections in six states should clarify the political outlook for the country, now regarded as fluid and unpredictable.

Khairy’s future trajectory would be better determined once the election is over.

A poor performance by Umno could heighten pressure for internal reform on the wings of which Khairy could be reinstated as a member.

In short, a stance of strategic ambiguity as to which party he should join suits Khairy better.

In the history of political comebacks, a spell in the wilderness is not the barren banishment it can be; it can hold the seeds of a triumphant return.- Mkini

---

TERENCE NETTO is a journalist with half a century’s experience.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.