Khairy will make his move when Nurul Izzah makes her move
Khairy is a brand.
It is precisely because Khairy is a brand that he is still a currency in the political scene today, although he is technically and officially a nobody.
Despite being a nobody with only a podcast to his name, Khairy’s views about anything and everything is still carried by many if not all of the news outlets in the country, as if it is the word of the prime minister or a cabinet minister.
His views are so powerful, as a matter of fact, that if he says anything unfavourable against a sitting minister, they might become so rattled that they will take potshots against his massage chair or even get him in trouble with the police , as if the sky is falling.
It has been around two years since Khairy lost an election, lost his position as a minister and was kicked out from his party, but still nobody has forgotten him. As a matter of fact, he is still so fresh in the mind of people, that former Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim has recently advised him to join PAS to make a comeback and in response, Umno President Zahid Hamidi, like a spurned lover, would exclaim that he too hopes that Khairy will never return back to Umno.
Zahid Hamidi, by the way, who happens to be Umno’s president and the Deputy Prime Minister, is the one that kicked out Khairy from Umno. Considering that, For Zahid to say that he hopes Khairy will never return to Umno, 2 years after kicking Khairy out of Umno, is akin to trying to drown a person after you have hanged them. It is not only an overkill, but a testament to the power of Brand Khairy. Brand Khairy is so potent, that two years after killing Khairy's political career, his spectre is still haunting the number two of the country until today.
In response to Zahid Hamid’s “spurned lover” retort against Khairy, Khairy would only remark that he found what the Umno President said to be an “interesting suggestion”.
He also would say that he is in no hurry to determine his next course of action just yet.
“But I haven’t quite thought about where I want to go from here on out,” were his exact words when asked what he was planning to do next, after launching a programme by Pertiwi, an NGO, at the Kuala Lumpur Library last week.
But has Khairy really not thought about what he wants to do next or is he just playing his cards close to his chest?
Well, I for one highly doubt that Khairy has not thought about what he wants to do next.
I actually think that Khairy has probably thought a lot about what he wants to do next. The only problem is, despite giving it a lot of thought, he is still no wiser about his next course of action.
We all know what Khairy's end destination is. His end destination is to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia. We all know that it is his end destination, because he told us that this is what he believes his destiny is.
Khairy’s problem however, is that he can’t see how he is going to reach his end destination from where he is right now.
I don’t blame him. I can’t see how he is going to reach his destination from where he is right now either.
One thing I am quite sure however, is that despite what Zaid Ibrahim thinks, Khairy’s journey to the top is not going to go through PAS.
I am not saying that PAS is never going to go to the top. With the proper strategy and rebranding, it is not impossible for a religious party to rule a democratic nation. An example of such a case can be seen in India, where the PAS of the Hindus in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been ruling India since 2014.
But for PAS to helm Putrajaya, it will need someone like Dr. Sam to captain it, not Khairy.
Brand Khairy doesn’t match well with PAS. It might go well with Umno or PKR, but if it is paired with PAS, Brand PAS and Brand Khairy will likely be at odds with each other, instead of complementing each other.
The best course for Khairy to go to the top is still through Umno, but for that to happen he will have to wait until Zahid Hamidi leaves Umno, and while he waits, he also has to pray that Zahid Hamidi will not completely drain Umno of its vitality.
Malaysian politics is heading in the same direction as all mature democracies do, which is to say that it is heading towards a state of two-party politics. In the same way that US politics is dominated by Democrats and Republicans, UK politics is dominated by labour and conservatives, Malaysian politics will likely be dominated by the Progressives in PH and the conservatives in PN in the foreseeable future.
The party that will likely dominate PH is PKR while its counterpart in PN will likely be PAS.
Given this scenario, with the passing of time, the other two major Malay parties in the unity government and PN, namely Umno and Bersatu, are bound to be subsumed by PKR and PAS, unless they find a way to revitalise themselves.
To revitalise itself, Umno will have to somehow or other usurp PKR’s position as the alpha of the unity government or join PN and find a way to become the alpha of PN, but I just don’t see how it is going to accomplish any of that, at least while Zahid is at the helm.
Without being able to usurp the alpha position in either the unity government or PN, the only way that Umno can remain as a force to be reckoned with is if it is able to cannibalise Bersatu, but I don’t see how Umno will be able to do that either.
Considering everything, I suppose that the best possible action for Khairy for now, is indeed to “wait and see”.
After all, time is on his side. His brand value is still undiminished. He is still relevant in the public’s eye. The situation in Malaysian politics is also still quite unstable. So why rush forward like a fool, when the path ahead is still unclear, but the future is so uncertain, that anything can happen anytime. Why not wait and see as to how the cookies will crumble in the future, and make a decision then.
We must remember that the 77-year-old Anwar is like the proverbial carpet that ties the room together. I daresay that it is solely because he reigns at the top that racial politics, religious politics and regional politics are kept under reins in the nation today.
When Anwar leaves, and Anwar will leave by one way or another in the next 5 to 10 years, we have no idea who or what will be able to keep the racial, religious and regional politics in the country in check. Who knows what sort of risk and opportunities that will emerge when Malaysia is put under such a stress test.
Other than that, I also predict that when Anwar leaves, geriatric politics will also go with him.
If you notice, our top politicians, like Anwar, Muhyiddin, Hadi and Zahid are all geriatrics. Once Anwar leaves however, I believe Anwar’s departure will put the pasture the rest of the geriatrics, and the next generation of leading politicians in the country will be around the age of Khairy, Rafizi, Nurul Izzah, Anthony Loke, Tengku Zafrul and Syed Saddiq.
Seeing so, I actually believe that what Khairy will do next, will really depend on what Nurul Izzah, and to a lesser extent Rafizi, will be doing next.
After Anwar, PH will likely be led by either Rafizi or Nurul Izzah. As of now, I am betting on Nurul Izzah, because I don’t see Rafizi as having the weight to hold PH together.
For all you know, Tengku Zafrul’s entry into PKR, might have been engineered to set the stage for Nurul Izzah to rise in the near future.
Tengku Zafrul likely can only form a partnership with Nurul Izzah. This is so because Nurul Izzah is like Tunku, Gandhi or George Washington – they have an inner light about them that allows them to hold their own even when they are surrounded by those who are able to shine.
Rafizi however, is more like Mahathir and even Anwar. You have to be careful about how bright you shine around them, less they become upset that you are trying to outshine them.
Considering that Tengku Zafrul is likely a person who cannot feel like himself, unless he tries to shine, I am betting that it will ultimately be Nurul Izzah that he will pair with to go for the top two positions in PKR.
If it is Nurul Izzah and Tengku Zafrul that form a combination to take on the top spot in next 5 to 10 years, this will not only prompt Rafizi, but also Khairy, to react.
How they will react is yet uncertain, but that they will have to react is certain, because if Nurul Izzah manages to build a team that puts her in position to become the first female prime minister of Malaysia, this will have a major impact on the way that Khairy and Rafizi will want to chart the course of their career.
Right now Khairy can afford to say that he doesn’t have a plan for the future, because Nurul Izzah hasn’t made any significant move to chart her future yet.
Once Nurul Izzah moves however, I will bet 1 ringgit and 35 cents, that Khairy can no longer afford to be so vague about what he has planned for his future.
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