KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 — Umno’s strident “Hidup Melayu” rallying cry is set to shape the campaign tone for the Youth chief’s post in this year’s party polls after Khairy Jamaluddin’s challenger Akhramsyah Sanusi signalled his intention today to champion Malay rights in his bid to unseat the incumbent.
The tone of Akhramsyah’s campaign suggests a struggle between a more strident right-wing faction pushing for more protection for Malays in government policy and more progressive leaders like Khairy who have struggled to gain traction in the nationalist Umno.
The son of Tan Sri Sanusi Junid, a former Umno chief secretary and a known ally of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Akhram, said today there was a “vacuum” of leaders pushing for the so-called Malay agenda in Umno Youth under the present leadership.
“My slogan is ‘Hidup Melayu’ (long live the Malays),” the mild-mannered engineer told a press conference when asked what his campaign slogan would be.
“Why? Because to the grassroots, the Malay agenda is no longer seen as being upheld, there lacks a push to materialise the aspiration of the Malays — as there seems to be a vacuum and Pemuda (Youth) has no leaders to fill it,” he said further.
Akhramsyah’s decision to enter the fray also fuelled speculation that he was planted by the Mahathir camp as a proxy that will continue the war to wipe out the progressives and consolidate the ultra-Malay agenda.
He, however, denied the allegation.
“I deny that I belong to any faction… if you say I am a proxy I would say yes I am. I am a proxy that represents the aspiration of grassroots members that want change,” he said to loud cheers from his supporters.
But questions remain over the motive behind Akhramsyah’s sudden decision. Prior to his announcement to contest, little was known about the Umno leader.
The engineer has never held any high positions in the party and in Umno Youth apart from as a branch leader in Langkawi, an island constituency in Kedah where most of its leadership are known to be staunch supporters of Dr Mahathir.
But Akhramsyah said his professional background — where he held top posts in an international oil and gas company — had given him the necessary experience to head a wing that will be integral to Umno’s survival.
“For 16 years, I have worked as an engineer, consultant until I had the opportunity to reach management level. At the same time, I have worked overseas, gained knowledge as well as technical and organisational experience that could then be brought back home to serve the country… I am a viable candidate,” he said.
Youth are expected to make up close to 6 million or more than half of Malaysia’s voting population by the next general election.
Without naming Khairy, Akhramsyah alleged the former’s leadership had failed to woo the young in the May 5 national polls that saw the ruling coalition record unprecedented losses.
“We can see that the youth had rejected Barisan Nasional (BN), especially in the urban areas, and we are afraid that this might spread to the youth outside these areas,” he said without elaborating further.
The young Umno leader also dismissed suggestions that his rallying call was intended to push the party further to the right despite efforts by its more moderate president, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, and Khairy to bring it back to its centrist roots.
“This whole definition of right or left is a western definition. By that definition the right wing means far right nationalist. Umno is not an extremist party. The responsibility to protect the interest of the Malays has always been Umno’s and the struggle to defend Malay rights has been there for centuries,” he said.
Apart from Akhramsyah, Khairy is set to face a four-cornered fight as two other Umno Youth members have announced their intention to contest.
Nominations for the Umno Youth, Puteri and Wanita wings go on until September 21, with elections for posts contested to take place during their annual meeting on October 12.
Nominations for supreme council posts are open until September 28 and the election will be held on October 19.
