Zainuddin Maidin: Khairy can become PM if...

In a sarcastic posting on his blog yesterday, former information minister Zainuddin Maidin said Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin can become the prime minister if he makes amends for his “big sins” during the tenure of premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Although entitled ‘Khairy can become PM in his old days’, most of Zainuddin’s ( right ) article resurrects the ‘mistakes’ made by Khairy when Abdullah, his father-in-law, was still in power.

“Khairy and several of his friends cannot wash their hands over their political gambit that had contributed to political instability in the party and also the collapse of the foundation of national unity built by second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein, and strengthened and elevated by Dr Mahathir Mohamad,” he wrote.

The former editor-in-chief of Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia claimed that Khairy’s interplay of politics continued until after the 2008 general election when he attempted to bring back the Anwar Ibrahim, who had just been released from prison, into Umno by obtaining an international passport for Anwar to seek medical treatment abroad.

Another mistake, said Zainuddin, was the manipulation of TV station TV3 and English daily New Straits Times ( NST ) by Khairy and his allies, to divide Umno and the bedrock of nationhood through negative reports against those who were not favoured by them, in the run-up to the 2008 general election.

“...the saddest part was then-Kedah menteri besar Syed Razak Syed Zain was humiliated and belittled at a time when he was sick, oblivious to his deeds in restoring the Kedah BN.

“Sensitive news that hurt the Malays and Muslims were published by the NST then,” he commented.

Zainuddin was a staunch supporter of Mahathir when the latter waged a war against his handpicked successor Abdullah in 2006 until Abdullah was replaced by Najib in 2009.

Khairy, who was then Umno deputy chief, bore the brunt of Mahathir’s attack. He and his allies were labelled as the “fourth floor boys”, a term to describe their vast influence over Abdullah’s office located at the fourth floor of the Prime Minister’s Department building.

His men were said to be appointed by the Abdullah administration to helm TV3 and NST , both controlled by Umno.

In the article, Zainuddin even hinted that Khairy’s men had siphoned off funds to print the BN manifesto for the 2008 general election.  

“The BN manifesto was announced, but it was never distributed. At first, the printing job was given to Utusan Melayu Malaysia Berhad, but it was eventually snatched by NST .

“The manifesto was nowhere to be seen. Where the printing money had gone to is still not known until today,” he claimed.

2008 loss due to ‘arrogance and egotism’

BN's appalling electoral performance in the 2008 general election, which Zainuddin described as a “lost dignity”, was due to the “arrogance and egotism of several Young Turks who wielded insurmountable power”.

“When I made a statement to Utusan Malaysia and The Star that the 2008 tsunami buried the ambitions of Young Turks in Umno from seizing power, one of the fourth floor occupants rebuked Utusan ,” he said.

After recounting Khairy’s deeds, Zainuddin continued to stress that it is time to focus on restoring unity in Umno as espoused by Mahathir.

“So too with Khairy, even though his ‘big sins’ led to the collapse of the foundation of national unity due to his idealism and hunger for political power, he should be given the opportunity to make amends, and he is doing it right now.

“This opportunity was given by Umno president Najib, who understands the interplay of power and has no desire for revenge, even if efforts to prevent Khairy’s ascension are made at the eleventh hour,” he said.

Before concluding his view, Zainuddin showered Khairy with praise, describing him as a politician with persistence, talent, charisma, in-depth knowledge of issues and intellectual ability.

“Khairy is an asset to the country’s future leadership,” he remarked.

However, Khairy should cherish the opportunity given by Najib and return to the correct path, Zainuddin added.

“He should be wise to enable him to become the prime minister in his old days.”