Tuesday 26 June 2007

Wind of Change in UMNO

While browsing, I came along this article which pretty much took my attention. Its about the future about UMNO and their youth leaders, well what's so interesting about them.!? Since PM Badawi took office and disapoint majority of Malaysian in his inept performance while in office its his Deputy and the next echelon leaders of UMNO who preety much attracts me, why?

Creditable websites which write about the state of Malaysia politics have predicted that Khiry would be the 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia, that is after Najib, probably even before that but my conscience feels otherwise, the like up, looks a safe bet for Najib to succeed and Hishamuddin to be his deputy and Khiry to take over from him like how Mahathir force Tun Hussein out of office.

However...a recent article have placed their bet in Hishamuddin to be the Next Mentri Besar of Johor...now if that happens then who will be the next Deputy Prime Minister. I for one, feel that Hishamuddin would contest in the same parlimentary seat which he did before.

Anyway for the benefit of the readers I have attached two interesting article courtesy of tunkuaisha a fellow blogger:

Article No 1:

Khairy and the 'perception' of power

In politics, the term ‘perception’ is important.
In the case of Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin, he is perceived to be ‘powerful’ in the government

And this ‘perception’ appears to hold water.

It is said that after the 2004 general elections, Khairy managed to convince Abdullah, who is also Umno president, to permit younger leaders to hold important posts in the central and state leadership.Following this, several younger leaders moved up the ladder. For example in Kedah, Umno Youth information chief Azmi Daim was appointed as a state exco.Whereas former Umno Youth exco Dr Zamry Abd Kadir was appointed as Perak exco and Dr Adham Baba was made deputy higher education minister.

The ‘perception’ among the public, and especially within the Umno circle, is that Khairy was behind the appointments. As far as they are concerned, the 31-year-old Oxford graduate can influence the prime minister. The younger generation in Umno considers this as a meaningful victory for Khairy, particularly for the future leadership of the Youth wing.

In view of this, Khairy will not face any obstacles in winning the Umno Youth chief post uncontested. Even the incumbent, Hishammuddin Hussein, has promised this to his deputy in the coming party polls. The old guards in Umno and the government consider Khairy a ‘threat’ but the younger generation look into him as someone capable of ‘opening doors’ for them to tread along the corridors of power.

The old guards are also concerned about the existence of ‘advisers and strategists’ spearheaded by Khairy on the fourth floor of the Prime Minister’s Office. This group is said to be responsible for all the decisions made by the government. According to a source close to Umno, these ‘perceptions’ are helping Khairy move up the party hierarchy with ease.

The latest ‘perception’ is that he is preparing a list of young leaders to be named as Umno candidates for the coming general elections. “Some of the things happened because of Khairy’s efforts, but there are also those that happened coincidentally, but Khairy gets the name,” said the source.Furthermore, he said, as Abdullah’s son-in-law, Khairy is in the prime minister’s ‘family circle’ and therefore privy to much information unknown to outsiders.“It is because of this, that Khairy is perceived to be more in the know and more matured than the rest, including in administrating the country.

“Whatever Khairy says becomes reality eventually. This has led certain quarters to believe that it is his idea and the prime minister accepted it,” he added.

The source said such ‘perceptions’ are not fair to Abdullah or his son-in-law himself, but this is what makes Khairy attractive to the younger generation.He believes that Khairy’s actions are more towards helping his father-in-law, who does not have a strong support base in Umno compared to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Najib has successfully built a solid support network among the elites and the grassroots because of his applaudable political career since becoming Umno Youth chief in the early 90s. He was never contested against until he became vice-president, for which he secured the highest number of votes. He is now the party’s deputy president.As a Youth leader, Najib netted the support of the younger generation and by being the son of the late Umno president and prime minister Tun Abdul Razak, he also won over the hearts of the veterans.

On the other hand, Abdullah’s political career appeared to be in a state of limbo until former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad appointed him as deputy prime minister after the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim.

“It is certain that Khairy does not want Abdullah to suffer the same fate as the late Ghafar Baba who was appointed deputy prime minister after Musa Hitam had resigned,” said the source.
In the absence of strong grassroots support and the lack of any effort to achieve this, Ghafar was defeated by Anwar, he added.

“Therefore, it is vital for Khairy to establish a formidable support network in order for Abdullah to continue administering the party and country,” he pointed out.It is because of this, the source said, that some have likened Khairy to a candle “which burns itself to provide light for others.”
He said Khairy has also been likened to the fable hero Hang Nadim who saved Singapore from being destroyed by a swordfish.

“The people were told to form a human wall to defend the island from the attacks of the swordfish but they all perished. Ten-year-old Hang Nadim then suggested to the king to use a banana tree trunk to stop the swordfish.

“The king, who was impressed with the boy’s intelligence, invited him to the palace in order to receive an award. But many of the noblemen did not like Hang Nadim as they were worried that when the boy grows older, he would seize power from the king,” he added.

The king, when informed of this, became enraged, and ordered the boy to be killed. “For certain quarters, this is only a fable, but this is a tale rich in hidden meanings. So Khairy must be cautious. One wrong move and he may suffer the fate of Hang Nadim,” warned the source.
On the same note, there are also those who feel that Khairy is doing all this to realise his own political ambitions. They claim that he has great goals, including becoming prime minister some day. The coming general election will provide a clue as to which ‘perception’ is true.

tunku : just one question, what will khairy position will be in umno if pak lah is not his father in-law? i'm sure he is nothing(zero). he jump onto the ship too early by cutting others. if you know the real khairy is and you love the pary, you'll never allow such person to be a leader in your party.god saves umno. http://tunkuaisha.blogspot.com/

Article No 2:

Hishamuddin Umno's Future Vice President

Hishammuddin gunning for vice-presidency?

Hishammuddin Hussein is expected to step down as Umno Youth chief and allow his deputy Khairy Jamaluddin to take over the post during the coming party elections.This is not a shocking development as Hishammuddin had never contested for the post, it was handed to him.

The question now is what will be his next move?

Malaysiakini has learnt that efforts are underway to ensure that Hishammuddin contests and wins a vice-president’s post. But observers are asking whether he has the support and the strength to do this.

At present, two of the three elected vice-presidents are Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam as well as Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries Minister Muhyiddin Yasin. The third, Isa Samad, had his victory nullified after being found guilty of practicing money politics.Efforts to garner support for Hishammuddin will begin at the coming general elections, where he is expected to contest for a state seat.

He will then be appointed as Johor menteri besar as the incumbent Abdul Ghani Othman will not be contesting.As menteri besar, Hishammuddin will also be appointed as the state Umno liaison chairperson. Johor has 26 Umno divisions, the largest number in Malaysia.

This will allow Hishammuddin to secure support from other states as well.His focus will be on the states expected to get new menteris besar after the general elections and with a large number of Umno divisions such as Perak (24), Selangor (22), Pahang (14) and Kedah (15). Sabah (25) and Kelantan (14) can also help.Apart from getting support from Umno Youth, which will be headed by Khairy by then, Hishammuddin can also obtain the backing of the ‘Menteris Besar Club’.Although the ‘club’ does not exist officially, it is an open secret that it is used by menteris besar to garner support, to at least win Umno supreme council seats in the face of challenges from Umno ministers.Each division will send 13 delegates to the Umno general assembly.

This is made up of six office bearers known as G6 and seven others, known as G7, who are elected during the division meeting.The G6 are known to be ardent supporters of the ‘menteris besar’ club.With the support from the G6 and with the help of Khairy, Hishammuddin will also be able to win votes from the G7 delegates.

This will be a ‘win-win’ situation for both Hishammuddin and Khairy. Not only will Hishammuddin become menteri besar, he will also become a party vice-president.Khairy, on the other hand, will get to head Umno Youth and by virtue of that post, also become a vice-president.Khairy, the 31-year-old son-in-law of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, may have learnt this move from Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.Najib was once the number two in Umno Youth under former deputy premier and current opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar won the post after defeating incumbent Suhaimi Kamaruddin. Following this, Anwar’s policy to ‘Islamisise’ the movement had ruffled the feathers of many Youth excos.Najib and his followers then struck upon the idea to oust Anwar from Umno Youth by campaigning for him contest for vice-presidency. It is certain that Anwar knew of the real motive but at the same time, the moved served in the former’s interest as well.
tunku : it will be a disaster in umno if kj will be the youth head.i guess there are many others who are more seniors than him should be given the chance, but believe he will get the post without challenge, or they will ask someone to challenge kj just to show that he won by contesting it.if this prediction happens, then it will be 95% for sure he'll be the prime minister very soon.and should hishamudin let this happen then he too should be blame.












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