Will Ku Li throw his hat into the ring?
Ian McIntyre, The Heat Online
Twenty-eight years ago, a Kelantanese and a Kedahan clashed in a “bruising” battle to lead Umno and Malaysia.
The battle has come to shape what is today defined as an acute disposition of our political scene where leadership skills seem to be lacking in the face of adverse challenges.
Now in 2015, the one-time foes may be forced to join forces to lead the country.
In 1987, the global economy slid after the “Black Monday” stock market crash in the United States, while Malaysia was distracted by the aftermath of a financial scandal from the now defunct Bank Bumiputra.
Malaysia went into a form of recession as the global crude oil prices also began to tumble. Sounds familiar?
Well, today, the economy is also faltering somewhat from a commodities slump. Oil prices continue to fall and the ringgit has devalued to 17-year lows primarily due to political uncertainty and economic woes.
And yes, there is now another monetary scandal – the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and the issue with RM2.6 billion in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal accounts.
CIMB Banking Group chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Nazir Razak has said continuing negative sentiments are driving the ringgit down.
So Malaysia’s political personalities –Kelantan’s prince, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah or Ku Li as he is fondly known, and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Kedah’s political kingmaker and the country’s longest-serving former prime minister are coming together.
The two are now mulling over working together in what is said to be a last ditch attempt to set the country back on a progressive and stable path.
And this time, their collaboration may be genuine unlike previous false starts, say insiders who are close to both of them.
Now, the “the surgical strike” as the insiders call it, may involve isolating the party that both of them made a name from – Umno.
Umno is mostly behind the man that Ku Li and Mahathir want out – Najib. He is a leader whom both veterans had mentored at some point in their political careers.
However, Najib of today has allegedly gone off track. His policies are backfiring and allegedly threaten the country’s wellbeing.
It is learnt that interim discussions between Ku Li and Mahathir had explored two possible scenarios to democratically oust Najib. The first is via a vote of no confidence by the majority of the 222 parliamentarians.
The second is to draw support from Barisan Nasional component parties and the Opposition to form an interim national unity federal government to restore international confidence in Malaysia.
The proposed new Cabinet will also consist of all political parties that have sizeable representation in parliament.
On the question of Ku Li helming the Cabinet, critics seem to doubt he has the energy for the job in view of his age at 78 years, despite admitting he has the experience to handle it.
Whilst the two scenarios do not directly involve Umno as a main player, certain quarters in that party have to give their nod for either one to happen.
Ku Li has also finally come to his own as two Opposition parties – DAP and PAS – say they are comfortable with him as prime minister.
He had edged out his one-time rival Che Det on the Internet giant – Google search results, logging in some 25,400,000 worth of enquiries compared to the latter with only 468,000.
Such results, however, vary daily as it is based on how many times internet users have searched distinctive keywords.
Ku Li’s personal aide, Dr Lukman Abdul Ghani, was bemused and brushed off such Internet trends as “just the news of the hour” which may filter away in days to come.
The loyal assistant was also quick to point out that the late South African leader Nelson Mandela became the country’s president when he was around the same age as Ku Li.
And in China, only veterans aged in their 70s are appointed or collectively agreed upon within the system to lead the nation.
More quarters have now begun to envision the Kelantan prince as the rightful heir to the prime ministership after Mahathir, thus his popularity on the search engine.
Insiders also say another attributing factor that makes Ku Li attractive is that many Netizens have expressed loss in faith in the abilities of other leaders.
