Khairy to join the Cabinet?

Wednesday, 09 December 2009 12:07

KUALA LUMPUR – A Cabinet reshuffle is on the cards and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar, left out when Najib Abdul Razak took over as prime minister, is expected to be included in the new line-up.

The political scene had been buzzing about a revamp even before Deputy Toursim Minister Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib quit his post last week.

Speculation had been rife earlier that Najib wants a new line-up after monitoring the performance of the Cabinet in his first six months in office.

The talk subsided after Najib revealed recently that he was not changing his earlier selection – albeit minor changes among the deputy posts.

Still, not many people are taking his word seriously and the expectation is high for him to have a more creditable force to back his ‘1Malaysia’ motto.

Heads will roll

Sulaiman’s resignation, it is said, has strengthened Najib’s cause to have more trustworthy and loyal people around him and those he can depend on to do their job with less excuses and controversies.

The recent onslaught by Minister in the PM’s Department Nazri Aziz against Dr Mahathir Mohamad over the former prime minister’s defence of the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) programme, has not gone down well with some Umno stalwarts who may want to see Nazri evicted from his seat.

Aside Nazri, the talk earlier is that among the heads that will roll are that of Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin, Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and another Minister in the PM’s Department, Nor Mohamad Yakcop.

Others who may be replaced, according to earlier news on the grapevine, are Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Noh Omar and Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Shabery Chik.

While almost all component parties of the Barisan Nasional are embroiled in disputes that make their leaders look rotten, it is understood that Najib may not include in his revamp anyone outside Umno, of which he is president, to preserve the seat distribution status quo.

Wider selection from Umno

Picking replacements from the Umno fold is easy as Najib would have a wider choice to choose from although there are not many iconic leaders left in the party.

However, the one to watch is Khairy who, it is said, is interested in the Youth and Sports portfolio. After all, he is the Umno Youth head, a Football Association of Malaysia vice-president and a co-founder of the MyTeam soccer team that was selected from a soccer talent search show.

When he was sidestepped for a Cabinet post, Khairy had bravely said he did not mind being on the outside as it would give him more room to strengthen and unite the Youth movement.

However, it is learnt, it had left him sulking because his peers, Umno Youth deputy chief Razali Ibrahim and executive committee member Mukhriz Mahathir had leapt over him to become deputy ministers.

But the Oxford University graduate, who is a son of a former diplomat and son-in-law of former PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is said to have already come to terms with the fact that in politics, one of the virtues is ‘patience.’

He had learned this from his father-in-law and close friends like Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, a former Umno Youth leader who waited for over a decade to become a full minister.

Interestingly, Zahid, currently the first vice-president, is also seen as a prospective prime minister, given his years of being coached by Najib.

Not easy to move higher

However, it is also known that being No 3 (after president and deputy president) does not mean a guarantee to move higher up the ladder. Under Mahathir not all the veeps managed to move higher and three deputies did not make it to No 1.

Nevertheless, Zahid’s loyalty to the party and his long connection to Najib put him in better stead than others – except, maybe, the PM’s cousin, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein - to take the pivotal post

That’s another story but what it probably means to Khairy is that he has to ‘make hay while the sun shines’ and make good as a Youth leader for as long as he is wanted there.

It is learnt that that he had accompanied Zahid on an overseas trip after the Bagan Pinang by-election last month and was given a ‘pep talk’ by his friend to boost the self-confidence that had slacked in Khairy.

Whether Najib had nudged Zahid into giving the motivation to Khairy is not clear but, according to some sources, the duo’s trip abroad had boosted the hopes of the Umno Youth chief that he is at last being considered for a Cabinet assignment. - Malaysian Mirror