Will Khairy tie the knot with PH or PN?

The recent announcement by Khairy Jamaluddin, expressing his interest in a possible ‘political comeback’ has caused curiosity among netizens.

The most intriguing question here is whether Khairy, popularly known as KJ, would choose to wed Pakatan Harapan (PH) or Perikatan Nasional (PN) to restart his political career.

KJ had experienced three terms as a member of parliament and held three different ministry portfolios, he was one of the prominent candidates and the face for Umno for 23 years, probably road-mapping his journey towards Prime Ministership.

However, it startled everyone when KJ lost in the seven-cornered fight in the Sungai Buloh constituency to R. Ramanan (PH) in a neck-to-neck battle where he managed to poll 48,250 votes compared to Ramanan’s 50,943.

Following his shocking defeat in GE15, about 10 days ago, he was unilaterally sacked by Umno Supreme Council for breaching the party’s discipline during the elections without giving him any show cause letter or disciplinary hearing options.

Is this the end of his political career or a kickstart towards building ties with a fresh stronger political coalition that is more relevant in the present times after Barisan Nasional (BN) has lost its popularity among Malaysians? In a way, KJ’s fate of losing the Sungai Buloh seat and later being sacked from Umno is probably leading him towards something bigger in his political destiny.

Either way, it looks like a blessing in disguise for KJ as he always portrayed a ‘loyal image’ of himself to Umno.

It was reported that KJ admitted his engagement with “several parties” on a possible role in the upcoming Selangor State Elections, perhaps pencilling his way towards the ‘Menteri Besar’ post this time.

The former Health Minister had stated that he is not going to appeal to reinstate his Umno membership and obviously it will be an uphill battle for Umno to win seats in Selangor anyways.

So, why join a losing party? Again, the million dollar question here is would KJ join PH or PN? If KJ wishes to join Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership in PH, it will cause an uproar among the other half (BN), who teamed up with the coalition to form the Unity government after the country faced a hung parliment last year.

Anwar might cause a trifle with Umno’s Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi if he offers to house KJ under PH’s ticket.

On the other hand, poll results show Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s recently emerged coalition (PN) during the pandemic, has managed to capture quite a number of seats during the GE15 overall.

GE15 Selangor parliament results last November show PH has captured 16 seats out of 22 while the remaining six belonged to PN.

The 2018 Selangor state election resulted in PH capturing 40 seats out of 56 while the remaining seats were from BN (5), PN (5), Pejuang (3), PBM (2), Warisan (1) This gives us an outlook that there are slim chances for PN to secure the state, with reference to the previous poll results, but anything is possible with Muhyiddin’s political strategies.

When Sinar Daily contacted Professor James Chin from University of Tasmania, he said it would be difficult for KJ to enter PH because members of the coalition “do not trust him”.

“They see him as a fake reformer, somebody who talks about reform but stays in Umno for a very long time, known as the ‘parti ketuanan melayu’.

“My guess is that if he (KJ) wants to stand in the state elections, he has to choose PN because there is no space for him in PH or BN.

“And if he wants to be with PH and BN, then he will not stand for the upcoming elections.

“It is foolish to second-guess what he would do but what he is doing right now is paving way and finding ‘jalan’ towards the Prime Minister’s office,” said the professor.

The political scientist further elaborated that KJ’s negotiations with the coalitions are because he is aware that if he doesn’t come back as a YB (elected representative) in the next few years, he will “miss the boat”.

“The way the game is played in Malaysia now is that you basically get one shot and you have to be a part of the players to sustain.

“If you’re out and missing in action for a few years, it will be difficult to make a comeback,” said James, adding that KJ will up his game and strategies this time in the state elections, following his defeat in Sungai Buloh.

In conclusion, let’s wait and watch the people’s favourite, KJ’s political fate.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sinar Daily.