Mahathir’s vendetta: the Joker in the pack (part 3)
When Khairy bagged the trophy on youth captaincy, Mahathir may have contemplated a ‘Plan B’ to account for the upset. You see, Mahathir couldn’t possibly have reneged on a promise he made to Najib at the eleventh hour. So he kept his end of the bargain and saw through Najib’s inauguration as Prime Minister.
Raggie Jessy
5. The 2009 UMNO elections and money politics
In part 1 of this series, I mentioned how 2009 marked the year Khairy contested UMNO youth’s captaincy against Dato’ Seri Mukhriz Mahathir and Dr. Mohamed Khir Toyo.
From day one, Mukhriz seemed to fit the unspoken yet much agreed upon epithet of a ‘late bloomer’. But whispers within the Corridors of Power were of a long-range succession plan that would consummate with Mukhriz taking up the reins of government by the turn of the decade.
To many, this was tantamount to the resurrection of Mahathirism, a form of governance they felt was outmoded and hence, irrelevant. As it turns out, none dared fathom another era with yet another Mahathir strapped in the saddle. Be that as it may, Khairy was being hailed as Mahathir’s ‘political progeny’ well before polls. So in a sense, it was a contest of kinship, one between political ‘step-brothers’.
And that pretty much set the tone for team Mukhriz during the youth contest. The outcome to this contest was deemed crucial in bringing about reform to the youth wing following a significant decline in support during the 12th General Elections. With a hefty swing from within a traditional voter base, it became imperative that the new youth leader be capable of cajoling deserters back into the fold.
However, there may have been a plot to preclude Khairy from the contest. I can’t be certain if such a plot did, in fact, exist, though Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah appeared to insinuate the possibility. “They (critics) said that the disciplinary committee is one-sided, (and) it appeared as though it’s one-sided. It so happen that people associate (Mohd) Ali Rustam with Abdullah (Ahmad) Badawi, and of course the other person who is also penalised is Abdullah’s son-in-law (Khairy Jamaluddin). That’s too much of a coincidence,” he said.
Tengku Razaleigh was drawing inferences from an episode that resulted in Dato’ Seri Mohd Ali Rustam’s disqualification as a Deputy President candidate. To reminisce, it was the 18th of March 2009, when UMNO set a standard by which it bartered unity in the name of transparency. It was the day Ali Rustam, then Chief Minister of Malacca, was found guilty of money politics and barred from contesting the Deputy Presidency. Khairy was not spared like allegations, presumably due to his association with Abdullah.
The whisper within the Corridors of Power was of a manoeuvre by Muhyiddin’s supporters to thwart Ali Rustam’s ambitions by design. No, I never said it, but some from within camp Rustam appeared to insinuate the plot. They blamed Muhyiddin’s supporters for complaints that detoured Ali Rustam’s ambitions.
Anyway, Ali Rustam’s exclusion was deemed necessary to ward off allegations of money politics. UMNO needed a big fish, and Ali Rustam was a big fish. These allegations were far too widespread to be ignored. But the disciplinary committee preferred not to infuriate Ali Rustam’s adherents, which may be another reason why he was spared a suspension.
Ali Rustam has long been deemed an Abdullah apologist. As a matter of fact, many believe this to have been the incentive for his exclusion from the contest. By this time, rumours were abounding that Mahathir preferred Muhyiddin over Ali Rustam and Mat Taib. As the story goes, Mahathir intended to reward Muhyiddin for helping trigger Abdullah’s ouster by speaking out against him.
The question is, did Muhyiddin or his supporters have anything to do with the allegations hurled against Khairy? More importantly, was a plot to disqualify Khairy from the youth contest a Mahathir machination?
Perhaps Tengku Razaleigh has an opinion on these matters.
5. Drawing battle lines
In the course of our communication, RPK told me how Khairy had sought to block Najib from succeeding Abdullah. As it went, Khairy had met RPK in person, wanting to know if he had the smoking gun to implicate Najib of Altantuya’s murder.
But that was then. A lot has changed since.
When Khairy bagged the trophy on youth captaincy, Mahathir may have contemplated a ‘Plan B’ to account for the upset. You see, Mahathir couldn’t possibly have reneged on a promise he made to Najib at the eleventh hour. So he kept his end of the bargain and saw through Najib’s inauguration as Prime Minister.
But under no circumstance would Mahathir tolerate a Prime Minister who was willing to offer Khairy any order of command. Remember, we’re assuming that Mahathir did believe Khairy to be involved with Singapore’s Security and Intelligence division (SID). Apparently, this was reason enough for Mahathir to have demanded for Abdullah’s resignation.
So what of Plan B?
Well, I think that Plan B had something to do with keeping his mouth shut until such a time that he could find fault with Najib. And that time came when Khairy was made Youth and Sports Minister. But it was Najib’s headstrong reluctance to go ahead with the crooked bridge project that triggered Mahathir’s outburst.
In all likelihood, Mahathir perceived Najib to have torn off a page in history and re-enacted the plot to the letter. What probably pissed Mahathir off the most was the possibility that Khairy may have reprised his role as the harbinger of doom.
And like Abdullah, Najib quickly became a coward, one who subjugated himself to Singapore’s demands. And showcasing Malaysia to the island republic as a “country with guts” meant everything to Mahathir.
6. The joker in the pack
Khairy’s career would be relegated to the dumps should Muhyiddin succeed Najib as Prime Minister. It is for this reason alone that Khairy is likely to go along to the moon and back with Najib at his bidding. Put differently, Khairy would jump should Najib say ‘jump’.
The six-year succession plan advanced by RPK in a recent article isn’t myth but a stark possibility (READ HERE). I believe this to be the grand plan of a maverick that changed horses in midstream following his son’s unexpected defeat at the hands of Khairy Jamaluddin during the 2009 UMNO elections.
What transpires hence is anyone’s guess. Having said that, following are some of the choices at Najib’s discretion:
a. He could work out a fresh agreement with Mahathir towards Khairy’s elimination. With Khairy out of the way, Mukhriz’s ascend up UMNO’s echelons would be a breeze.
b. He could stick to his guns and rely on the party’s patronage.
c. He could advice the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to dissolve Parliament sometime this year. This would give Najib a chance to seek a fresh mandate.
d. He could resign and pave the way for Muhyiddin’s inauguration as Prime Minister.
Perhaps one can now fathom why Najib may be between the devil and the deep blue sea over his fate. It appears that the animosity between Najib and Mahathir has nothing to do with 1MDB and just about every other cat Mahathir has since pulled out of his bag. But it does have everything to do with Khairy Jamaluddin, the joker in the pack, whose mere rank in UMNO and the government may shift tides either way.
Mahathir’s vendetta: the Joker in the pack (part 2)
Mahathir’s vendetta: the Joker in the pack (part 1)
