Either Perikatan Nasional supremo Muhyiddin Yassin is whistling in the dark to keep up his courage or he is on to something.
His prediction that PN will win half the state seats in Penang and is confident of garnering 80 percent of the Malay vote in the rest of the states that will go to the polls soon is mere propaganda, or his crystal ball is extraordinarily clairvoyant.
Either way, plenty about the shape of future configurations in Malaysian politics will hinge on the response Khairy Jamaluddin gives to Muhyiddin today on the offer the latter made him some weeks back.
Khairy was offered a place in Bersatu’s supreme council and the chance to contest a seat in Negeri Sembilan, a proffer that comes with the possibility he would be menteri besar should PN wrest the state from Pakatan Harapan in the coming polls.
Khairy has been tantalising both sides of the political divide - the unity government on one side and PN on the other - with his availability.
Since his sacking from Umno in January, the former Umno Youth chief and minister has steered a political line that positions himself as a bipartisan figure.
His conduct as health minister in the government of Ismail Sabri Yaakob (August 2021 to October 2022) bolstered his reputation for ministerial competence.
Further, a deportment that enables him to maintain an image of being above-the-partisan-fray has endeared him to a public tired of the divisive politics that has plagued the national arena from even before the Sheraton Move in February 2020.
This helps to explain his presence at a consultation Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim held last week with senior government and private sector experts on the economy.
Khairy’s presence fortified his standing as a bipartisan figure whom the unity government feels comfortable with even as he remains amenable to the courtship of the opposition.
The talk in the political saloons of the country on the coming polls in six states revolves around whether PN can project electoral strength outside of their bastions of Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
However, there is also ardent speculation on how Umno, as an ally of DAP and PKR, will fare among Malay voters long accustomed to despising the DAP and wary of PKR.
If Umno does poorly, it is conceivable there will be pressure within the party for the recall of Khairy, who continues to be a popular figure in his former party.
Khairy’s nemesis, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, will find it difficult to keep Khairy out should there be pressure on him to do so against the backdrop of a poor Umno performance in the coming polls.
A recalled Khairy will be seen as a leader who can rally a beaten and bowed Umno for the bigger battle of GE16 - which will be held in 2027.
Also, because of his bipartisan standing, Khairy will be better able to forge a viable relationship with DAP and PKR to combat a PN opposition that would have been strengthened by the results of the approaching state polls in which, presumably, Umno comes off poorly.
New political outlook
All this presupposes that Khairy declines Muhyiddin’s offer to join Bersatu today.
The coming to power in Umno of a younger set of leaders like the presently proscribed Khairy and Shahril Sufian Hamdan - Khairy’s partner in a popular radio talk show - who are more open to refreshing departures in outlook is imperative for the spawning of a political climate where race and religion are not the divisive factors they now are.
If Khairy makes a common cause with Bersatu, it will do little to soften the two bugbears of Malaysia’s politics.
His holding out for a more constructive future in which an Umno, chastened by another limp electoral performance, may see him recalled to its ranks and ready to lead them to a new departure, away from the sterile politics of race and religion.
This will suit Khairy’s instincts better than an enlistment with Bersatu which will place him in uneasy cohabitation with PAS. - 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.
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