Kadir Jasin backs Ku Li to save Umno

(MMO) – Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is the right and only man to revive a shell-shocked Umno, according to Datuk A. Kadir Jasin.

The former chief editor of the New Straits Times said the politician also known as Ku Li was relatively youthful at 81, which he noted was over a decade younger than Malaysia’s 92-year-old prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Seeing that Ku Li was still weighing whether to contest for the Umno presidency, Kadir urged the Kelantan prince to take the plunge by saying the latter has never had a better chance to lead the Malay nationalist party.

“If I may offer advice to Ku Li, whom I have known personally since 1976 and was briefly my ‘previous boss’, hurry up and offer yourself up,” he wrote.

The former spokesman for the Council of Eminent Persons said he was not trying to interfere with Umno’s affairs, but wanted the country to have a strong and credible Opposition in Parliament.

Barisan Nasional is currently disintegrating following its defeat in the 14th general election, with components either abandoning the coalition in droves or disregarding its continued existence.

Kadir said he agreed with Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh who stressed on the need for the country to have strong and critical backbenchers to keep the Pakatan Harapan administration in check.

Without Ku Li at its head, he said Umno would not likely be able to rise to the occasion.

“Aside from Dr Mahathir, there is no other more experienced than Ku Li in the Dewan Rakyat and he was among those who have known the prime minister the longest in the local political arena,” Kadir said after a damning appraisal of possible candidates to be Umno’s president.

Beyond former president Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Kadir said none in Umno would be able to stem the party’s decline and restore it to its former glory besides Ku Li and possibly Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

However, he said the former youth and sports minister was saddled with his own scandals and would not be suited to the role.

Ku Li called a press conference for this afternoon where he is expected to announce his participation in Umno’s internal election.

The party is currently headed by acting president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is officially only a vice-president.

Acting deputy president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, another vice-president, has already ruled himself out of contention.