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SEREMBAN – Hopes of seeing Khairy Jamaluddin return to electoral politics and potentially be appointed as the next Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar remain unfulfilled.
This follows the absence of the former Rembau MP's name from the list of Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates announced for the Negeri Sembilan state election on Wednesday night.
Previously, speculation had been rife that Khairy would contest the Gemas State Legislative Assembly seat, with some even naming him as BN’s “poster boy” who could attract support from young voters in the election.
The speculation intensified after he was welcomed back into the Umno fold in April, with him seen becoming increasingly active in politics, including participating in the recent Johor state election campaign.
The name of the former youth and sports minister and health minister minister was also touted as a suitable candidate to lead Negeri Sembilan, given his perceived experience and political credentials.
His experience serving in both ministries was seen as an advantage in steering the state.
However, throughout his political career, Khairy has never contested a State Legislative Assembly seat.
In the 12th, 13th and 14th General Elections (GE12, GE13 and GE14), he contested and retained the Rembau parliamentary seat.
During the 15th General Election (GE15) in 2022, he vacated the seat to make way for BN deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and contested the Sungai Buloh parliamentary seat instead.
However, he was defeated by Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Datuk R. Ramanan.
Khairy had previously acknowledged that he was more comfortable playing the role of a party machinery member to assist BN’s campaign in the Negeri Sembilan state election rather than contesting as a candidate, but said he would abide by the party leadership’s decision.
Of the 36 state seats in Negeri Sembilan, BN is fielding 25 candidates comprising 16 from Umno, seven from MCA and two from MIC.
Negeri Sembilan BN chairman Mohamad and Negeri Sembilan Umno chairman Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias will retain their respective seats in the Rantau and Pertang seats.
Another 10 Umno incumbents have also been given the mandate to defend the seats they currently hold.
However, Datuk Ismail Lasim, who previously represented Senaling, has been moved to contest the Juasseh seat after its incumbent, Datuk Bibi Sharliza Mohd Khalid, was not renominated.
Umno is also introducing three new candidates — Mohamad Qayyum Abd Jalil for Senaling, Siti Nur Umaira Hasim for Labu and S Leza Md Yasin for Pilah.
