Sg Limau by-election is over. Result is official. PR's candidate Mohd Azam Samat 37 retained the seat vacated by it's former assemblyman and former Chief Minister of Kedah, the late Azizan Abdul Razak.
Post GE13 Chief Minister Mukhriz Mahathir has failed in his quest to wrest the seat despite the mighty backup from ministers, chief ministers, party leaders; not to ignore the pledges & promises, the 'goodies' and last but not least the by-election which was held on a working day (Monday).
I opt as not to be mean to label Mukhriz a natural born loser. Perhaps, he's just unlucky enough to encounter losses after losses.
Despite his father's influence, Mukhriz first lost the Umno Youth wing chief, followed by vice president race in recently concluded Umno general assembly and yesterday, as the chief minister of Kedah, he conceded defeat in Sg Limau by-election.
Is he so indifferent of his father?.
I would catagorically say, NO. Remember 1987?.
If not the votes from 30 illegal branches, Mahathir lost the Umno presidency! Instead of discounting the illegal votes and award the challenger, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah the winner, the court declared Umno illegal.
Subsequently, Mahathir formed Umno Baru and was returned unopposed. Malaysia could have been on a very different path should Tengku Razaleigh was made the Umno president and the prime minister then.
Mahathirism seems fading. Would Mukhriz's popularity and relevance fade too? This is the topic of conversation now taking place in many public places.
In a couple of year, Mahathir would be 90. Even if his political spirits still running high, his physical and mental may not.
The question is, with Mahathir's 'control' over Umno is fast eroding, will Mukhriz survive in future national politics?
Whether Mahathir, a once labelled recalcitrant leader by Australian premier realizes it or not, other than Malaysians, prime minister Najib and his party line-up must have observed the sharp declining trend in his influence over the people.
His calls to Selangoreans before GE13 for instance, were not heeded and in contrary, the Selangoreans gave PR an additional 7 seats.
Many also opined that he was becoming a 'liability' to party instead of strenght.Taking into account Umno delegates' reluctance to give Mukhriz a victory in the veeps' race, some quarters felt his presence and paticipation in campaign trails in Sg Limau are far than contributing.
Mahathir's dream to see his son Mukhriz at the helm of Umno and govt now shattered to pieces and Mahathirism would soon get folded beyond redemption.
On a different note, there is also no guarantee Umno would not face relevancy crisis given their willingness in letting 'discordant voices' of party's right wing supporters (NGOs),people who claimed to be deffendants of the Malay special privileges to continue amplifying their voices.
On top of that, the menace of distasteful, provocative, arrogant, boastful and irresponsible utterance leaders which have becoming more rampant must be stop.
PM Najib must be bold enough to reprimand them and take appropriate action(s) in the name of professionalism and integrity.
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