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Friday, April 3, 2015

Where is Khairy?

The Umno Youth leader seems as quiet as a mouse since last year's Umno general assembly.
COMMENT
Khairy-Jamaluddin1_600It seemed like 2014 was going to be Khairy Jamaluddin’s year. The popular Youth and Sports Minister was riding high on his new-found image as a progressive Umno politician, a term that is a rarity in itself. He was the revolutionary, leading Umno Youth to transcend its usual role as a pressure group and to begin truly walking the talk.
He took on racists, even those friendly to his own party, when they made statements that hurt the feelings of non-Malays. He pioneered national fitness programmes. He handled Lee Chong Wei’s doping charges with great grace.
He was even tipped as a potential deputy prime minister candidate by veteran pressman and noted Mahathir confidante Kadir Jasin.
But it seems like since last year’s Umno general assembly, Khairy has been as quiet as a mouse. In fact, a cursory check of headlines sees nary a mention of KJ these days, except for the occasional sports-related item, although he did weigh in on the recent TMI arrests, condemning the portal for falsely reporting news.
What happened to the reformer, the revolutionary, the progressive? Khairy remains as popular as ever with the youth, but it seems like he has chosen to lay low and toe the line as of late. He appeared to be a voice of reason and moderation in Umno, but his near silence on the recent spate of arrests seems to speak louder than the reputation he established last year.
In all fairness, he did just welcome his third child, for which we congratulate him, and he is understandably preoccupied with other matters than just politics.
His involvement in Shafee Abdullah’s almost self-congratulatory “I put Anwar in jail” tour also rubbed some moderates the wrong way, thanks to some of the gloating statements issued by the lawyer.
In Umno politics, it is understandable that a politician wishing to be progressive must also pay tribute to the conservative bent of the party. It is a fine line to tread, but the pay-off is Khairy’s popularity among the youth. However, his silence risks his losing traction and momentum.
Perhaps the conservative aura of Umno’s last assembly has resulted in his current cautiousness, but that isn’t the Khairy that gave us hope that there were still sane minds in the ruling party.
At this point, even some advice from him to the youth on how to survive the GST would be appreciated.
It would be a shame if all the goodwill he built up last year went to waste. In fact, his silence on issues like the GST and his defence of 1MDB place him in danger of losing the support of the moderates he gained through hard work and his constant pushing of Umno Youth to aspire for more.
Khairy, being middle of the road, is not what won you your popularity. Those who follow you do not expect you to go the way of Tengku Razaleigh, whose outspokenness has deprived him from deserved rewards in the party power structure. But you must again pick up your mantle as the progressive or risk having those who see you as Umno’s last hope become disenchanted.
I had a lot of hope for Khairy Jamaluddin. While his accomplishments with the youth and in Malaysia’s sporting arena are no small matter, it is the revolutionary KJ that made me feel like Umno still had a glimmer of hope.
In this charged political atmosphere, voices of reason from the ruling party are all the more necessary. This was where Khairy shone best. He carved himself a niche that the other moderates in his party have not managed to gain despite their efforts. Letting all that go to waste would indeed be a crying shame.

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