Coming into his own

ARCHIVES 2009

By admin-s On Feb 18, 2009

By Jacqueline Ann Surin and Shanon Shah, The Nut Graph

ONCE it was clear that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would exit as both prime minister and Umno president in March 2009, the favour that Khairy Jamaluddin presumably enjoyed as son-in-law must have evaporated quickly.

But the changing political fortunes and shifting political equations could very well be a blessing in disguise. With Abdullah on his way out, and the Barisan Nasional, especially Umno, facing one its toughest challenges in regaining public support, Khairy now has an opportunity to prove that he's his own man.

In this third and final part of a 2 Feb 2009 exclusive interview, the Umno Youth chief aspirant and first-time Member of Parliament (MP) for Rembau tells The Nut Graph he believes he is the underdog now. But that doesn't mean he isn't confident about who he is and what he has to offer.

TNG: If you fail in your bid to become Umno youth chief, do you think it will then make it difficult for you to gain a prominent position within the party? Especially since Pak Lah (Prime Minister or PM Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) is seen by many to be your benefactor, and he's on his way out.

Khairy Jamaluddin: I don't know. I mean, that's not a question for me, that's a question for the incoming Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib (Razak), if he needs my services or not.

Do you think Najib is open to the ideas you have about reform?

I think he's a well-read person. I think he's a capable guy. I think he understands the problems. It's not a question of realisation. I think he realises. He's not like other Umno people who don't realise. I think he realises. It's just a question of whether he wants to do it.

Do you think he wants to do it?

Yes, I hope so.

(Pic by Kamal Sellehuddin / Flickr)How did you feel about the accelerated transition plan?

(Chuckles) Accelerated transition plan. I told PM, I said, "This is your decision. I'll support whatever it is that you decide." And that was precisely how I felt, because by the time they were discussing this transition plan, I thought it's entirely up to him to decide what's in the best interest of the party and you go with that.

But did you say that as a son-in-law who has affection for your father-in-law, or did you say that as a party member who has certain ideas about reforming the party?

Maybe when I said, "You decide [on] whatever and I'll support you", I said that as his son-in-law. As a party member, I told him, "But decide quickly." (Laughs) Because whatever it is that you decide, fine.

But the party cannot wait, because we were just about to start the division meetings, and I went up to him and said, "Please decide quickly lah. Either way, it doesn't matter. You want to go for it, fine, let the chips fall where they may. If you want to go, then let's go for it."

Did he seek your advice or your feedback a lot?

Not really. I didn't speak to him very much because he was very busy, in and out, and I think he was consulting with Datuk Najib quite a lot. So I didn't get to see him much at that time. I saw him maybe a couple of times.

The first time I couldn't say very much. I was just asking what was going on. The second time was when I said, (a) [I will] go with whatever you decide, and (b) decide quickly.

Did you feel a sense of disappointment, maybe, that he had decided to give it up much quicker than expected?

I don't know if I'd categorise it as disappointment, you know? Regret? Not regret in [him] going per se. But maybe regret at what might have been if he had done things differently, or reformed quicker. Things like that.

But he's always told me, especially when I joined politics, he said, and he always reminds me, "Don't ever take anything to heart, because this is just a game. And it's not about your life. This is not your life. Your life is your family, your life is your well-being. This is a game, a game that you're in because you want to do something for the country. And unfortunately, to help the country you have to be part of this game. You can stop whenever you want, and you can leave. Nobody is asking you to play this game. You are in it by your own volition, your own choice."

So he said, don't take things to heart. And to him, basically he said, "Game over." He didn't take it to heart. He said when your time's up, your time's up.

You know, many people said that your meteoric rise in the party was because you were riding on the coattails of Pak Lah's prime ministership. Did you ever think of it in that way?