KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — After his expulsion from Umno, Khairy Jamaluddin said he thought “long and hard” about setting up his own political party but chose not to do so for the sake of Malay unity. 

Khairy said launching his own party would have further fragmented the Malay voter base that was already in a foour-way split involving Umno, PAS, Amanah and Pejuang. 

“The Malay voters already have many parties and I didn’t want to contribute towards even more political fragmentation. 

“For me, it’s better to have stronger parties,” Khairy said in an exclusive interview with Malay Mail recently.

Khairy said new parties would also have little impact in the next one or two election cycles and sustaining them would also be difficult in the long run.

Establishing a new party, he said, is justified in two circumstances: when there is a longer runway to build it or when no existing parties provide an appealing platform.

But Khairy said Umno was already present as his “natural home”. 

“It’s not because I cannot do it. It’s because I looked around and I said, there is a natural home for me. 

“Why should I set up something new when there’s a natural home for me?” he said.

Asked if he had always anticipated his homecoming to Umno, Khairy pointed towards his Keluar Sekejap studio and said: “It’s literally in my podcast title. This is like the biggest hint of the century.”

“I’ve told you guys, it is just for a while.”

Khairy was sacked from Umno in January 2023 for allegedly violating party discipline but he formally returned to the party fold last month under the Rumah Bangsa initiative. 

The ‘Rumah Bangsa’, mooted by party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi during the Umno general assembly in January, is a reconciliation effort to reinstate former members who were suspended or sacked from the party. 

Push for reforms continues, but methods may change 

Khairy, however, stressed that he will not shy away from pushing for reforms in Umno but will do so cautiously without crossing the party’s red lines. 

The former Umno youth chief admitted that his urgency to push for reforms in the past caused misgivings with the party’s leadership. 

“Changing the party was conflated with changing the people. 

“Umno is a political party and when you make certain moves, it upsets people — and I think I was not respectful of that.

“I could have maybe thought it through better on how to do it without being seen as personally motivated against certain people,” Khairy said. 

However, he said the party is now ripe for reforms with leaders like vice-president Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani urging Umno members to grow out of nostalgia and denial syndrome and rebuild the party.

“In Ahmad Zahid’s speech (at Umno’s 80th anniversary celebrations), he was very magnanimous in the sense that he said mistakes were made on both sides. 

“When he said that, I felt that this is a president and a leader of a once great party who wants to make the changes so that it can become a great party again.”

Should Umno head into GE16 solo?

Khairy said the party’s performance in the Melaka, Johor and possibly the Negeri Sembilan state polls should be used as milestones to make the call. 

“I think we have to look at the numbers, on where and how the votes are cast in the next two or three state elections. It has to be a calculated decision,” he said.

On the “Kolaborasi Agung” strategy mooted by Ahmad Zahid since January, Khairy said the move seeks to build a broader consensus of the Malay-Muslim agenda and allow Umno to keep its post-election options open. 

“It is a signal saying that we are working out what our platform is and we leave the door open going into the election to see who wants to join this grand collaboration towards a more stable government. 

“It could be with Pakatan Harapan, as per now. 

“It could be with Perikatan Nasional or it could be Barisan Nasional alone.”