Ku Li Made Second Attempt to Become Prime Minister?

Najib knows how to play his cards. He knew if Dr Mahathir was to endorse Ku Li, he will be left high and dry by the Umno veterans. It’s like playing chess – if you moved the wrong pawn, you will forfeit your territory, in this case, your post.

by Haider Yutim, Malaysian Digest   

Blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin finally came out from ‘solitude’ after two years of hiding away from controversy but only to create more controversy. It was an interview he did with TV3 about two months ago that was ‘conveniently’ released on April 13 and 14 (a couple of days shy of the Sarawak polls) by the TV station that enlightened (or confused) Malaysians on the whole statutory declaration episode in 2008.

In the interview that was aired on Buletin Utama, he pretty much said he did not make allegations against the prime minister and his wife, linking them to the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu. He said that it was a military intelligence personnel called ‘Bul’ (Nik Azmi Nik Daud) who had told him of the alleged involvement of Najib Razak and Rosmah Mansor in June 2008, and the SD only mentioned that the allegations should be investigated. He pretty much gave the impression that he was played out by some military intelligence personnel and that he was somehow entangled in a political undertaking of those from the higher echelon who, at that time, was attempting to prevent Najib from succeeding Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as prime minister. He even dropped more than several names and among those he mentioned were bloggers Din Merican, Adlan Benan Omar, Rafizi Ramli, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s aide John Pang and Tengku Razaleigh himself. Yes, he alluded that it was the Kelantanese prince and former finance minister better known as Ku Li who could have been partly or entirely behind the “exercise” to impede Najib from becoming premier so that

“The whole objective of this exercise was to block Najib Tun Razak from taking over as Prime Minister. If Abdullah Ahmad Badawi can be forced to resign, and if Najib can be blocked from taking over, then Tengku Razaleigh could become the next prime minister,” wrote Raja Petra in his portal Malaysia Today.

The Great Political Tsunami

Rewind back to 2008, the year of the historical political tsunami of the 12th General Election (GE12). Compared to its record win in GE11, GE12 was a big boo-boo for Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN). Pak Lah, as BN chairman and prime minister had no choice but to take the blame for party’s dismal performance then. If Pak Lah did not step down soon enough after losing two-thirds majority, Malaysians would have been compelled to tell him to do so. But the problem was, at that time, there was no one in his new cabinet who is capable of inspiring a comeback from the slough of desponds the party had fallen into. The ruling party was in dire need of a leader who can restore people’s confidence towards BN or it could risk falling in a downward spiral.

The ‘Chosen’ One

At that time (2008) Ku Li was viewed as a vehement politician. Strong and noble, he was and still is the opposite of Pak Lah. He is a blue-blooded Umno man has the desire to take over the presidency of the party and he nearly did when he challenged Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1987 (Dr Mahathir won by a margin of 43 votes). Umno’s poor show in GE12th was a window of opportunity for Ku Li to shine. He has been waiting for so long and now was the time for him to take the power back. At that time many Malaysians felt that Ku Li was outspoken enough to ask Pak Lah to quit or be voted out in the next Umno Supreme Council election that was to be held at the end of 2008.

The reentry of former premier Dr Mahathir into Umno created a lot of buzz among the Umno members at that time. The discontented Umno grassroots were rejoicing at the exciting possibilities Dr Mahathir could bring to the party. However, on the other hand, certain sections within the powers that be are recoiling in abject horror. The likeliest candidate that could provide the highest chance of success then was none other than Ku Li. Many did not foresee this potential turning of event.
 
And then, it all started – the ongoing rumors on who’s backing who and who will come out a winner. Another rumor was Pak Lah was said to have approached Najib and offered him the presidency in June 2009. But the offer came with a condition. Najib must help him win the Umno general election in December. Najib knows how to play his cards. He knew if Dr Mahathir was to endorse Ku Li, he will be left high and dry by the Umno veterans. It’s like playing chess – if you moved the wrong pawn, you will forfeit your territory, in this case, your post.

At that point of uncertainty, the Opposition wanted Pak Lah to stay at the top as Pak Lah was the weakest link in BN. Muhyiddin Yassin had announced that he had successfully requested Dr Mahathir to rejoin Umno who subsequently endorse Ku Li as a potential candidate for the party’s presidency and this didn’t sit too well with the Opposition. This is because Dr Mahathir was endorsing the likeliest candidate to topple Pak Lah.

The Opposition leaders didn’t want any changes at all in Umno as they wanted Pak Lah to remain as leader of Umno-BN. But there was no way the party could evade changes after a disastrous aftermath of GE12. The opposition had foreseen this and they are willing and ready to accept the challenge of going toe-to-toe against a leader by the likes of Ku Li at the helm of Umno/BN/government. This reason the Opposition holds such notion is because they were convinced that Najib was going to give them a tougher fight in the many battles to come.

‘Politricks’ and the Struggle for Power

Political gossips are fun and talking about who can or would challenge the current leaderships and who will prevail from it is always exciting. But, in 2008, it’s already pretty clear that, barring an unlikely government crackdown, the transition of power will somehow take place peacefully. The only question is when. Will it be from Pak Lah to Ku Li or to Pakatan or will it be from Pak Lah to Najib or to Pakatan?

The Opposition knew their wish wouldn’t come true. The Prime Minister’s office was ready to welcome Najib. So the numerous scandals and cases linked to Najib were nothing but frail attempts to bring him down to his knees. These are all a dirty politics deployed by Najib’s rivals to topple him. As for Ku Li, I guess the aspiring prime minister has to wait for yet another window of opportunity.