The rising sons, daughter and son-in-law

Two weeks ago, Umno Youth exco member Mukhriz Mahathir arrived at the Umno Cheras building to receive a RM100,000 cheque from the division and its Cheras Education Foundation.

The donation was meant for the Gaza humanitarian fund organised by Peace Malaysia, of which Mukhriz is a coordinator. Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein is the patron of the movement.

To the crowd’s applause, he also announced Peace Malaysia’s target to raise RM200,000 had just been achieved as the Scomi Foundation - linked to Umno president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s son Kamaluddin - has pledged the other half.

In the press conference which followed later, it was obvious that the attention was not on the RM200,000, but on Mukhriz’s political plan in the general election since just a day earlier he has expressed his intention to contest, if given a chance.

After taking a few questions on the Gaza fund, reporters started to press him on his election plan but the youngest son of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad was very much coy about it.

“ Kerusi mana ? (Which seat?)” the 43-year-old replied spontaneously, pointing to the chair he was sitting and jokingly asked whether the reporter was referring to that.

He was rumoured to be eyeing the Langkawi parliamentary seat in Kedah but when pressed for confirmation, he stuck to the standard line - the party president will decide on his candidacy.

Mukhriz can be considered as one of the most suitable candidates to run in Langkawi, given the fact that the place was one of Mahathir’s pet projects, transforming the unknown island into a leading tourism spot. It will be a case of a son continuing his father’s legacy.

However his father’s lingering presence in the island may not be enough to ensure a definite seat for Mukhriz. As it stands, the local Umno division has openly backed incumbent Abu Bakar Taib, a rather quiet MP in the Parliament, to retain the seat.

Hee Leong for Gopeng

Mukhriz is just one of several political heirs to possibly make an electoral debut come March 8.

If Mukhriz gets the nod from Umno, joining him would be MCA’s Ling Hee Leong and Gerakan’s Lim Si Pin - both of whom are sons of long-serving ministers in Mahathir’s cabinet, Dr Ling Liong Sik and Lim Keng Yaik.

Hee Leong, who is MCA Youth deputy chief, will launch his election attempt in the Gopeng parliamentary seat in Perak, a traditionally safe seat for the MCA, currently held by party veteran Dr Ting Chew Peh.

Ting, a former academician, had been long associated with the senior Ling as he was the party’s secretary-general when Liong Sik was at the helm of the party.

Asked on his impending candidacy, Hee Leong quipped: “It looks that way, it sounds that way”.

Although Gopeng is a MCA stronghold, Hee Leong - who once uttered the unpopular ‘eat, drink and be merry’ remark which continue to haunt him - is set to face a tough challenge from PKR candidate Dr Lee Boon Chye.

His victory however would fend off critics and boost his chances of rising in the party’s hierarchical ladder in the next party polls set to take place after the general election.

In 2004, Ting accrued a whopping 14,260-majority votes to defeat PKR’s Lee and it remains to be seen if Hee Leong can better that.

A political heir is also seen rising in Gerakan in the form of Si Pin, a trained economist who has made it to become the party’s deputy youth leader.

However when asked on his chances of contesting in the general election, Si Pin naturally remained tightlipped although indications are that he would be contesting at the Segambut parliamentary seat in Kuala Lumpur or in Simpang Renggam in Johor.

Both the two seats belong to the ‘Team B’ within Gerakan - Segambut’s Dr Tan Kee Kwong and Simpang Renggam’s Kerk Choo Ting - and it is an open secret that these two incumbents never got along with Keng Yaik.

However, Kuala Lumpur-based Si Pin, 38, was reported to have gone down to visit local leaders in Simpang Renggam over the weekend and it appears that it will be quite certain that he will be ‘parachuted’ to the Johor seat.

Tan and Kerk respectively won their seats in 2004 with a 16,968 and 14,155-majority votes.

The opposition’s children

The opposition front also has its fair share of the ‘rising sons’.

While DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng is no novice in Parliament, the March 8 election will be his attempt to mark his return to Parliament after a hiatus from two parliamentary terms.

Guan Eng, former Kota Melaka MP and son of DAP supremo Kit Siang, could not contest in the past two elections due to the five-year ban on him from active politics as a result of his conviction under the Sedition Act.

He was imprisoned for 18 months for alleging that former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik had committed a statutory rape on a minor.

Also coy on his plan, Guan Eng, 48, is however speculated to move away from his Malacca base to run in the Bukit Gelugor parliamentary seat and Seri Delima state seat in Penang this election.

He stands a good chance to win in both the seats as Bukit Gelugor is currently being held by DAP chairperson Karpal Singh. Seri Delima’s incumbent BN-MCA’s Koay Kar Huah, a senior Penang leader, has announced his retirement thus offering a chance for Guan Eng to face a newcomer as well.

It was reported that Karpal’s sons, lawyers Jagdeep Singh Deo and Gobind Singh Deo may also run in the election for a state seat in Penang (Jagdeep) or seats either in Johor or Selangor (Gobind) on the DAP’s ticket.

Of the two brothers, Jagdeep, 37, had contested and lost in a Penang state seat in the previous elections while Gobind, 35, is a newcomer.

On the PAS front, son of former party president Yusuf Rawa, Mujahid, will replace former party vice-president Dr Hassan Ali to recapture the Parit Buntar parliamentary seat in Perak.

Hassan has gone into a low profile after pulling out from the PAS party election last year.

“There is a historic strength of PAS in Parit Buntar,” an optimistic Mujahid said when asked on his chances since he is based in Penang to run his family’s publishing business.

This will be the third time for Mujahid, a 44-year-old PhD graduate in Islamic political science and PAS’ national unity bureau chief, to try his luck in the election. He lost in his two previous tries.

He is among the new breed of professionals group within the Islamic opposition party led by deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa.

Limelight on son-in-law

There is no son coming from PKR, but there is a famous daughter - the 27-year-old Nurul Izzah Anwar, eldest daughter of PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

The eloquent Nurul Izzah, fondly called ‘Puteri reformasi’, said she is ready to contest for a seat for the first time and her battleground is likely to be the Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat in KL.

If she goes ahead, she will face off with the popular Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who has held the seat for three terms.

However of all the above mentioned political sons (and a daughter), the spotlight however will be on one son-in-law - Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who married Abdullah’s only daughter, Nori, in 2001.

The 32-year-old graduate from the prestigious Oxford University is tipped to run in the Rembau parliamentary seat in Negeri Sembilan, where he is the division Youth chief.

However apparently not everyone is happy with this prospect. Murmurs are appearing that some members of the division are unhappy with Khairy’s rare presence in the locality.

In 2004, there were similar rumours that Khairy would run for the same seat but it did not materialise then.

Nevertheless, Negeri Sembilan Umno chief Mohammad Hasan said recently that Khairy was among the five candidates endorsed by the Rembau division this time around.

Prior to that, Khairy’s name was also linked with several other seats such as Shah Alam and Putrajaya.

Whatever happens in the general election, political dynasty is here to stay.