Who will change first new Khairy, or Umno?

Will Khairy Jamaluddin change Umno into a more moderate force, or will Umno change him?

There was never any question that Khairy Jamaluddin would rejoin Umno. I have previously wondered which of the two, Khairy or party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, would win the staring contest, although I predicted the competition would end in a roundabout way.

Zahid’s “Rumah Bangsa” initiative not only knocked the wind out of PAS’s sails, but also offered amnesty to former defectors.

Now, many of the younger generation view Khairy as a political “rock star” and, to some, a prime minister in waiting. But I must admit, I (and maybe others like me) have had issues with Khairy in the past. He had said some things that did not sit well with me.

An innuendo directed at Anwar Ibrahim, then opposition leader, led to a suit against Khairy; then there was the time he described Nga Kor Ming as a “Taliban” in 2019 after Nga, then deputy Dewan Rakyat speaker, remarked that Malaysia could end up like Taliban-ruled Afghanistan if PAS and Umno were in power.

Khairy also once compared participants of a Bersih rally to monkeys, a remark for which he refused to apologise.

So I derived a little satisfaction when Khairy was sacked from Umno in 2023.

But to his credit, Khairy reinvented himself — a feat that caught me off guard, but which earned him my newfound respect, especially considering that the only other person who could pull off such an achievement is former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Instead of kicking up a fuss over his sacking and burning bridges with his former party, Khairy took the “moral high ground”, shedding the “nationalist thug” image that some Umno Youth chiefs tend to adopt, and becoming more statesmanlike and more of a progressive Malaysian.

Admittedly, I was initially wary of this “rebirth,” but I also found myself in awe of his surge in popularity. (And for a while I harboured hopes that he would be part of a Third Force that Malaysia also badly needs.)

Through his Keluar Sekejap podcast, co-hosted by suspended Umno member Shahril Hamdan, he helped bring cross-party discussions to a larger audience through meaningful conversations with the likes of PKR’s Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, DAP’s Loke Siew Fook, Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s Abang Johari Openg and PAS’s Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar.

Can Khairy usher in the changes that Umno desperately needs? Given time, I believe so.

Change will come, albeit slowly, a fact that most Malaysians seem to be incredulously ignorant about. Changing Umno or even the country isn’t as simple as upgrading to a newer smartphone.

Still, Khairy’s “reinvention” will give current Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh a run for his money in terms of attracting support and reviving the party’s popularity.

But I am also hoping for Khairy to have an effect on Umno itself, with the party adopting the approach he took when he was a political pariah.

Imagine an Umno that engages in cross-partisan politics and encourages more mature discussion on issues, effectively becoming a kill switch to Akmal’s fiery racial rhetoric and PAS’s religious extremism.

This, in turn, could make Umno a more “moderate” force for the country, a Malaysia that Tunku Abdul Rahman had envisioned.

Which brings us back to a pertinent question. Will Khairy change Umno for the better or will Umno see Khairy slipping back into a role some of us find offensive? Only time will tell.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.