A Cat Says No To Cream

Khairy Jamaluddin says he doesn’t want to be a minister, not while father-in-law Pak Lah is still in power.

He’s telling the public this in the wake of the new Cabinet announcement.

Problem is, hardly anyone believes him.

For a chap who’s been throwing his weight around so much so he’s one of the most hated names among senior Malay politicians, this is completely uncharacteristic of him.

Perhaps he’s been humbled by Umno’s shocking defeat in the elections; he’s mentioned a few times several days ago Umno must work to repair its image. Malaysians have denounced the party as ‘arrogant’ and in five states given their votes to the opposition to staunch this arrogance. So perhaps KJ has had a moment of life flashing past before his eyes and ‘sudah bertaubat.’

And then again, perhaps not.

Certain circles tell of KJ harbouring hopes of getting a ministerial post this year but when Pak Lah broached the subject at party meetings, he was shouted down.
They say Pak Lah realizing he would further alienate his men if he pushed the issue has decided to keep KJ on ice until a more opportune time arises.

In the elections, KJ, who is Umno Youth deputy chief, took his Rembau parliamentary seat under seriously suspicious circumstances. In the wee hours of Sunday, March 9, the election officers counted a win for KJ’s opponent, Badrul Hisham Shaharin of Parti Keadilan Rakyat. Chegubard knocked out KJ by 141 votes in the keen contest. A few hours later, on KJ’s demand for a recount, he was announced the winner – by a clear majority of 5,500 votes.

The results of this recount has been strongly derided by large sections of the public, cynically such a large majority could have been missed on the first count.

At 32, and married to Pak Lah’s daughter Nori, KJ now needs to tread carefully.
The Umno mindset is still largely feudalistic and a pecking order exists in which seniority plays a major role in determining who gets which piece of the political pie.

With Pak Lah battling an eroded public confidence and internal rivalry, this is no time for him to stick a sinewy neck out.