Monday November 3, 2008
Khairy lags in third position
KUALA LUMPUR: Khairy Jamaluddin, once seen as the favourite for Umno Youth chief post, is now lagging in third place.
The Rembau MP did not receive any nomination yesterday and is stuck on 50 nominations.
As the deputy Youth chief, Khairy is seen as the “natural” successor for the post being vacated by Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.
However, Khairy, the son-in-law of the Prime Minister, is still in the running for the post as he has passed the 39 nominations eligibility mark.
“Do the numbers really matter? He already has the ‘licence’ to contest,” said one of his aides.
Meanwhile, the third and last candidate to qualify in the race, Datuk Seri Dr Khir Toyo, has sailed past Khairy with 56 nominations.
Dr Khir’s latest nominations came from Kudat, Sungai Besar and Pengerang.
Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, the son of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, is still leading comfortably with 71 nominations.
He bagged three nominations from Kangar, Sungai Petani and Temerloh yesterday. Divisions have until Nov 9 to hold their meetings. (The Star Online, 3 Nov.2008)
Comments:
From a "natural successor" and an underdog to a "miserable" third placing in the race for the top UMNO Youth post!! It did sound impossible once, especially during the initial stage of nomination. Not any more.
Many people, interested in UMNO politics, are kept wondering, whatever really happens to Khairy's chances in the coming days towards the 24th March 2009 UMNO Election?
Yesterday, at Khairy's own kampung in Rembau, I met an elderly grandmother, 80, who was an UMNO member as ealy as the UMNO's symbol of Kapal Layar and once a former UMNO Branch committee. She told me frankly that Khairy was almost out of touch with the average kampung people. In this small Kampung Gadong with a population of 500 people, (Khiary was not even born here,unlike his father,uncles and aunties), Khairy was almost a stranger until he joined politics. That being said, Khairy wasalleged said to be too dependent on certain individulas in one small circle of the kampung community, which she terms as the Ulu Gadong factor, closely related to the Gadong Darat (southern sector), where his ancesstors came from). He has not given the Gadong Baroh (northern sector) people due attention.
This veteran UMNO member said, "Khairy picked aides from the Ulu Gadong sector.And
Lately I have not seen him that close to his "kerabat" cousins, like the Haji Hashim or Haji Mahmood's Families." The late Haji Hashim and the late Haji Mahmood were Khairy's father, Jamalddin's brothers-in-law.
"But Khiary seems to be close with his other cousin, Datuk Shaiman Abu Mansor, currently a csbinet member in the Federal Government of Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. thw late Shaziman's father, Abu Mansor, was the elder son of Abu Bakar, a former Penghulu.
What story lies ahead for a bigger picture nationally, is an interesting one to ponder with!!
4 years ago
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