This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on September 12, 2022 - September 18, 2022

All political parties fear the impact that two laws passed under the Undi18 constitutional amendment will have on the next general election. Undi18 is the youth movement that successfully campaigned to bring the voting age for Malaysians into alignment with the age of majority.

The amendments that came into effect in December 2021 lowered the voting age to 18 from 21, and enabled automatic registration for those who qualify. The net effect of the two laws is that 5.8 million new voters will be added to the present pool of 15.8 million.

Whatever political pundits may say, the fact remains that nobody knows for sure how this group will shape the outcome of the next polls.

So far, two states have held elections since the amendments came into force and Muda, the party that makes the interests of younger voters its platform, managed to win one seat in Johor. The outcome is fairly good, considering that its election machinery pales in comparison with the likes of Barisan Nasional, PAS and DAP.

It is noteworthy that the outcomes of the Johor and Melaka state elections are no barometer of the voting trend in a general election. Voter turnouts in the two state elections were low, favouring Barisan Nasional and its dominant partner, Umno.

In the next general election, which is not too far away, the biggest challenge is to win over a major slice of the new voters. Towards this end, all political parties are restrategising to endear themselves to this group.

The exception is probably Umno, based on the latest development within the party involving its former Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

Khairy, the health minister, more than proved his capabilities with his handling of the national Covid-19 vaccination programme. So, it comes as a surprise that he has been told to make way for a more senior party leader to contest the Rembau parliamentary seat held by him. Khairy had responded that he was prepared to stay out of the next general election as he had no other constituency that he could move to.

The question that arises is, what kind of messaging is Umno sending to the younger voters? Are younger leaders with proven track records not sought after as candidates?

Khairy does not fall into the mould of the traditional Umno warlord who is seen to pander to the party’s apex. He has stood out as a critic of the court cluster that controls the Umno leadership. After the 2018 general election, when Umno was voted out of Putrajaya, he was among the leaders who openly criticised fellow party members for blindly supporting those implicated in corruption.

For instance, he made his stance on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) fiasco clear — that it is indefensible and Umno should not protect those responsible for it, including the then party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, whom Khairy challenged for the Umno presidency in June 2018, has been silent so far on Khairy’s position in the next general election.

Zahid is among the leaders in Umno facing charges for various issues ranging from corruption to money laundering and abuse of power, offences that allegedly took place prior to May 2018. Najib, the former prime minister, heads the list of Umno leaders known as the court cluster, and is currently serving a 12-year jail sentence.

During the party elections in June 2018, Khairy went for the top post against Zahid and garnered nominations from 61 Umno divisions, or one-third of the divisions in total.

Moreover, he has proven his mettle during the pandemic as the key figure in rolling out the vaccination programme.

When Malaysia started its vaccination programme, it was among the slowest in rolling out mass inoculations. But within a few months, it had caught up and joined the ranks of countries with the highest vaccination rate.

One of the measures that Khairy pushed through was to vaccinate documented and undocumented migrant workers. This was among the moves credited for the reduction in the number of casualties due to the pandemic.

KRA group political analyst Amir Fareed Rahim nicely sums up the dilemma that Umno faces with regard to Khairy’s position.

“If Umno drops KJ (as Khairy is commonly known), it sends the wrong signal that the party does not appreciate talent and does not recognise the performing minister who has been crucial in the nation’s effort to fight the pandemic,” he says.

To be fair to Umno, the person who is slated to take over from Khairy is no featherweight by any measure.

He is deputy party president Datuk Seri Mohamed Hasan, who is also Rembau Umno division chief. Better known as “Tok Mat”, he was the former mentri besar of Negri Sembilan who rose up the ranks during the leadership of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Abdullah is Khairy’s father-in-law. Khairy gained prominence during Abdullah’s leadership and managed to become Umno Youth leader in 2008 when the former’s grip on the party was waning.

Mohamed Hassan had indicated to Khairy his decision to stand for the Rembau parliamentary seat way back in June 2018 after he won the party deputy presidency, beating Tan Sri Annuar Musa. The party election was held after Najib had stepped down.

It is believed that supporters close to Khairy had looked at Port Dickson and Tasek Gelugor in Penang as alternatives, but both were found to be not suitable.

Speculation is rife that in the next general election, Khairy would be offered a seat in Tampin, which is close to Rembau. It is a traditional Umno seat that was contested by Shaziman Mansor, who lost to Hasan Baharom from Parti Amanah in 2018.

Shaziman is said to be closely aligned to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri and has not indicated whether he will contest in the next general election.

In that respect, there are enough vacant parliamentary constituencies for Khairy to choose from. But the decision lies not with the prime minister but the court cluster that is in control of the Umno leadership.

A wrong move may prove costly for Umno and BN.

M Shanmugam is a contributing editor at The Edge 

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