Daim ‘in talks with Ku Li’ to unseat Najib

A meeting on Thursday, and another this weekend on a confidence vote in Parliament, says report

KUALA LUMPUR: Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is at the centre of moves initiated by former finance minister Daim Zainuddin to unseat Najib Razak, according to a report in a Hong Kong-based online news site.

A meeting was reportedly held at Razaleigh’s home on Thursday with a group headed by Daim, a close ally of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and a second meeting was to be held at the weekend to discuss whether to seek a vote of no confidence in Parliament, the report said.

In recent weeks Tengku Razaleigh, 78, and MP for Gua Musang, has been mentioned as a possible interim prime minister in a unity government to take over from Najib’s Barisan Nasional to resolve outstanding issues in the government’s handling of the economy.

Both Lim Kit Siang, who has touted a “new political coalition to Save Malaysia” and former law minister Zaid Ibrahim, have made the Kelantan prince the centre of their proposals for a new government, with Zaid describing Tengku Razaleigh as the People’s PM.

John Berthelsen, editor of Asia Sentinel, wrote on Friday that the Daim-sponsored plans would have deputy Umno president Muhyiddin Yassin, 67, move up to succeed Najib as party leader, but not as prime minister.

Despite many attempts over the years, Razaleigh has been reluctant to commit himself to another attempt at the prime ministership, after failing in the late 1980s when he attempted to unseat Mahathir Mohamad as party leader and prime minister. The power struggle resulted in Umno being deregistered. Tengku Razaleigh’s splinter party, Semangat 46, and a temporary alliance with the DAP and PAS for a united electoral front foundered at the polls and he has not made another foray since.

Berthenlsen said the current attempts to recruit “the apparently reluctant politician, Umno’s longest-serving MP, may be running into roadblocks.

“But some Umno leaders, while continuing to profess loyalty to Najib, were deeply concerned that allegations of the massive scandal at 1Malaysia Development Bhd are wrecking the party’s chances for the 2018 general election,” he wrote.

Quoting a well-informed source, he said Razaleigh “would be totally acceptable” but had doubts about how quickly he wants to move. Another source also said Razaleigh is hesitating this time as well.

However the death of his wife, Noor Yvonne Abdullah, of cancer two weeks ago would allow him to concentrate on the country.

Berthelsen wrote that Najib had been able to keep party cadres in line, using “a river of government money that pours into their pockets through rent-seeking contracts, make-work jobs and other goodies from 1MDB”.

An estimated RM1 billion had been used, according to an unnamed source. “Indeed, his sway may be such that despite his troubles, he can prevail again,” Berthelsen said, quoting an unnamed source.

He said PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang was said to be hoping for PAS to be expelled from Pakatan Rakyat, allowing him to team up with Umno in a Malay-Muslim dominated “unity government” which Umno has long offered PAS.

However, Berthelsen said other parties including the MCA, MIC and Gerakan would desert the Barisan Nasional, and moderate Malays and Muslims in urban centres might move towards Anwar Ibrahim’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat and the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, even though it was relatively rudderless since Anwar began a jail sentence in February.