Mahathir tells Najib to keep Khairy out of cabinet
By Wong Choon Mei, Suara KeADILan
Ex- premier Mahathir Mohamad has issued another round of pre-emptive excuses for his protege Najib Abdul Razak.
This time aimed at making it easier for the latter, who is the incoming Umno president and prime-minister-designate, to kick Umno Youth chief aspirant Khairy Jamaluddin out into the political wilderness.
Khairy, the influential 33-year old son-in-law of outgoing Umno chief Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, has long been a thorn in the prickly flesh of the 82-year old Mahathir.
It is well-known that the dictatorial ex-premier blames Khairy for shutting the door on several of his pet projects, including a proposed crooked bridge linking Johor to Singapore and for trying to divest the ill-judged national car company.
“I am sure that Abdullah will force Najib to endorse his choices for cabinet ministers. We know about the ambitions of some people who want to be the country’s youngest prime minister,” Mahathir wrote in his blog www.chedet.com, in a barely veiled reference to Khairy.
With Najib solidly in power, Mahathir hopes to restore some shine into his tainted legacy. Furthermore, youngest son Mukhriz Mahathir is now in direct competition with Khairy for the coveted Umno Youth chief post.
Together with former Selangor menteri besar Mohd Khir Toyo, the trio are fighting hard to oust each other in the final lap. And a helping hand from daddy could go a long way.
“The truth is if Khairy wins, his inclusion in the government will cause voters to reject Barisan Nasional in the 13th general election. What more if he loses but still gets a seat in the cabinet?,” saked Mahathir.
Water off a duck’s back
It must be noted that as Mahathir is now criticising Abdullah for over-staying his welcome, this is exactly what he himself did in 2004. Not only did he handpick Abdullah to succeed him then, he also insisted that Najib was made deputy premier.
Accusations of the pot calling the kettle black have long accompanied his verbal haranguing but like water off a duck’s back, Mahathir believes that he is acting in the greatest good faith.
“If Najib picks the corrupt and certain people in his cabinet, Umno will be destroyed,” Mahathir continued.
Yet among Malaysia’s top tier leaders, accusations of big-time corruption have been levelled at Mahathir and Najib the most.
The Umno annual general assembly and internal polls are due to take place beginning Mar 24. Last week, Khairy was issued a warning letter by the party’s disciplinary board for alleged involvement in vote-buying.
Denying guilt, the Umno Youth deputy chief and Rembau MP has pledged to stay in the contest. But his fate is now in the hands of the 2,500-odd delegates voting at the assembly. If they shun him, it would give Najib additional reason to exclude him from the cabinet.
Corruption and growing elitism
A shut-out would effectively extend the purge launched last week by the Najib-Mahathir camp against Abdullah loyalists.
Popular Malacca Menteri Besar Mohd Ali Rustam is still smarting from being barred from contesting while just a breath away from securing the deputy president’s post. Like Khairy, Ali Rustam was accused of vote-buying.
Left holding the flag for the Abdullah camp is Muhammad Muhammad Taib, another former Selangor menteri besar.
A graduate of University Malaya, Muhammad has nevertheless been criticised and made fun of by the Najib-Mahathir camp for not being qualified enough to be the Umno deputy president and deputy prime minister. One of the grouses was that his English was not fluent enough.
But despite being the underdog, there is some expectation that a backlash of sympathy votes against perceived injustice to the Abdullah camp may propel Muhammad Taib to the winning post ahead of Muhyiddin Yassin – the Trade Minister openly favoured by Najib.
As Umno members lose themselves in party intrigue ahead of their annual congress, political watchers remain more convinced than before that the once-mighty party was on its last legs.
Corruption and growing elitism has been and continues to be the bane of Umno, deepening the existing factionalism in the party and making it really tough for reforms to be carried out.
Said Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, a former Umno deputy president: “Najib and his supporters are turning Umno into a microcosm of the country where a band of untouchables can flout the rules with impunity, while the rest can and may be made targets as and when the power-that-be want to make an example of whatever it is they want to clamp down on at any given moment.”
