June 4, 2025
KUALA LUMPUR – POLITICS in the last few weeks has been more entertaining than an Oscar-winning movie.
The PKR election took home the Oscar for the most thrilling script but before life could go back to being boring, Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli kept his word and resigned together with Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
It left Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim with little choice but to reshuffle his Cabinet.
Then came the bombshell on Friday (May 30) evening when Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz Abdul Aziz quit Umno to join PKR.
That was big news because he is a big star apart from being an Umno supreme council member and Investment, Trade and Industry Minister.
Quitting a party is one thing, but to quit and join another party from the same coalition is something else.
It is like leaving the first wife to marry a new wife who happens to live next door – it will be quite messy for the neighbourhood.
The brief and rather blunt statement from Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki made no bones about the fact that Umno felt betrayed.
Tengku Zafrul was given the VIP treatment in Umno because he came in with a background in banking and he had a refined persona and access to the Selangor and Perak royal house.
One of the reasons offered by Tengku Zafrul for leaving was that he could not find a solution to problems in Selangor Umno which is led by Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin.
“Until today, we are unclear about the nature of their falling-out,” said Umno politician Ainul Aizat Ahmad Ishak.
Some accounts say it is the usual case of two tigers growling at each other on a mountain because Megat Zulkarnain, who is political secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister, is also a big name in Selangor where his father was the “silat Melayu king”.
The reaction from the Umno crowd has been unforgiving and furious, accusing him of gravitating to parties led by Prime Ministers. He was close to Bersatu when Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was on top, cosy with Umno when Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was premier and now he is with PKR.
“I voted for him when he contested the supreme council post. A group of us met him at his house during the campaign and we were impressed by how he engaged the room.
“I saw him as a more rounded version of KJ (Khairy Jamaluddin) but now I feel my vote has been used as a stepping stone. However, I’m confident my president will know how to weaponise the situation,” said Ainul Aizat.
Some pointed out that Khairy Jamaluddin is still loyal to Umno after being sacked whereas Tengku Zafrul abandoned Umno despite being given special treatment.
The most stinging reaction came from the usual suspect, Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Akmal Saleh, who warned PKR that “a snake will forever be a snake”.
Tengku Zafrul had a privileged upbringing and is not a natural people man. In fact, he often comes across as rather awkward when mingling with the hoi polloi.
But he is intelligent, has a track record and works well with people. The fact that he has survived so many prime ministers speaks of his talent for being able to perform without outshining the top man.
The Prime Minister has been wooing him since last year and the fact that it is happening now seems like a strategic move. Rafizi’s exit has left a lacuna and Tengku Zafrul comes in with value-added, royal connections and, well, a glimmer of glamour.
But an Umno politician warns that he had better contest an ultra safe seat in the next general election because he will not get support from Umno.
The Tengku Zafrul shocker has lent some credence to the intriguing chatter about Khairy being accepted back to Umno and that he would be appointed a senator.
Sin Chew Jit Poh, the leading Chinese vernacular paper, reported Khairy would likely join the Sungai Buloh division which is led by his former political secretary.
It sounds too pit-pat to be true although there is usually no smoke without fire. But where is the smoke coming from?
“I’m not aware of any discussion in the party about his return but I would like to see him back. Khairy is an asset, he can connect to groups that other leaders cannot,” said Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Johari Ghani.
Former Kapar Umno division chief Datuk Faizal Abdullah was hopeful after seeing Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Khairy exchange man hugs and air kisses at the funeral of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. More recently, the Umno president was in Kepala Batas where the Maktab Rendah Sains Mara was renamed after the late prime minister.
“Pak Lah was very kind, he made Zahid a full minister. Zahid is so powerful today, it is up to him to decide if Khairy can represent Pak Lah’s legacy,” said Faizal.
However, not everyone in Umno is thrilled about having Khairy back. They did not like the way he criticised the party on his Keluar Sekejap podcasts.
“We don’t need KJ, our party is not short of talent,” said a supreme council member.
Moreover, in the time that Khairy has been away, there has been a party election that saw the emergence of a new echelon of younger leaders.
Is it possible that speculation about Khairy is coming from the PKR side?
Khairy defended Nurul Izzah Anwar’s bid for the party deputy president post and rubbished talk of nepotism. Khairy could relate with what she was going through because he faced the same situation when his father-in-law was prime minister but he was mocked for currying favour with Nurul Izzah.
Nurul Izzah, Rafizi and Khairy get along although they are not friends in the real sense of the word. They came across as the aspirational trio and it is ironic that one is battling public opinion at the height of her political journey, another has fallen while the third is still stuck in political Siberia.
Meanwhile, the guessing game over the impending Cabinet reshuffle is in full swing.
Many people think they know Anwar inside out but he has actually been rather hard to read when it comes to Cabinet appointments or else all those pundits would not have been wiping egg off their faces after the last reshuffle. But it is time to put competent people in the right places.
Fortunately for Anwar, the DAP ministers are not budging despite pressure from the Teoh Beng Hock group demanding that DAP ministers resign after the case surrounding his death was classified as NFA or no further action.
What a crazy week it has been, with ministers resigning and also refusing to resign.