Malaysia’s ex-health minister Khairy lends star power to campaign for ‘best friend’ in Penang

KEPALA BATAS, Penang - Malaysia’s former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin lent his star power to campaign for Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Reezal Merican Naina Merican on Thursday, urging Penang voters to back the experienced politician at state polls on Aug 12.

This comes after Mr Khairy, who was expelled from BN’s linchpin party Umno early this year, helped stump for another candidate from rival coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN) in Selangor on Monday.

Mr Khairy, more popularly known as KJ, was mobbed by dozens of supporters when he did a walkabout in the old town of Kepala Batas, a parliamentary ward on the Penang mainland.

The state election on Saturday will pit Datuk Seri Reezal against PN’s Khaliq Mehtab Mohd Ishaq in Bertam, one of the three state seats in the constituency.

Many people who saw Mr Khairy and Mr Reezal making their rounds in the small town – dotted with two-storey wooden shophouses – approached them to shake hands.

Many also jostled to take selfies with the two men, who sportingly obliged.

“I am here for the two of you,” housewife Maiza Zakaria, 43, told Mr Reezal when he inquired whether she had waited specifically for Mr Khairy.

Later, she told The Straits Times that she had waited for 15 minutes for the two leaders to show up, after finding out from social media that they would be making their rounds.

“I like KJ, he is friendly, while Reezal is a good leader, so he has my vote,” she said.

Despite being ousted from his party and losing his parliamentary seat at the November general election, Mr Khairy is still generally respected by most Malaysians for his handling of the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out; he is also seen as a promising political leader.

Retiree Oh Kim Foan, 78, who loudly proclaimed his support for Mr Reezal to the delight of Mr Reezal’s entourage, said the alternative of PN possibly winning is worse.

“I feel Reezal can win because the Chinese community here will definitely give their backing to him,” he said.

Mr Khairy said he stumped for his “best friend” Reezal, with whom he had worked during their time in the Cabinet, because the latter is experienced and can serve the people well.

Mr Khairy and Mr Reezal served as ministers in the administrations of Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. Mr Reezal was youth and sports minister in Muhyiddin’s government, and housing and local government minister in Mr Ismail’s Cabinet.

Moreover, Mr Khairy said Kepala Batas was previously the ward of his father-in-law and former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was Umno MP there from 1978 to 2013, before handing it over to Mr Reezal.

Kepala Batas unexpectedly fell to PN at the 2022 General Election, due to the so-called Islamist green wave that propelled the opposition coalition to gain a third of the 222 parliamentary seats.

“Reezal is the right person to carry on Pak Lah’s legacy,” Mr Khairy said, using Tun Abdullah’s nickname. He also urged outstation voters to return to their home towns to vote on Saturday, to ensure the “best candidate” is elected for the seat.

“I know in Bertam there are some people who refuse to vote for BN for several reasons, but they should put aside such sentiments,” said Mr Khairy.

“One vote for Reezal Merican is one vote for Reezal Merican, not one for Zahid,” he said, referring to Umno president Zahid Hamidi, who faces dozens of graft charges.

Waning Malay support saw Umno-led BN suffer its worst result in the 2022 national polls, where it limped home with just 30 seats.

PN took the lion’s share of the Malay vote to win 74 federal seats.

This is not the first time Mr Khairy has helped campaign for the upcoming state elections.

On Monday, he was on the campaign trail for Datuk Harrison Hassan, the PN candidate for Jeram in Selangor.

Mr Khairy has known Mr Harrison since the 1990s, when they both joined the youth wing of Umno.

Mr Khairy was also previously a three-term MP for Rembau in Negeri Sembilan. He gave up his seat to contest in Sungai Buloh in last year’s general election, when he lost to Pakatan Harapan’s Ramanan Ramakrishnan.

In January this year, Mr Khairy and several senior leaders were sacked from Umno for “violating party discipline”.

He is now a radio deejay at Hot FM, and helms a current affairs podcast with former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan. He is also a visiting senior fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

Mr Khairy had served in several ministries such as youth and sports, science, technology and innovation, and health.

The highlight of his political career was being the lead minister for the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination programme in 2021.

Correction note: An earlier version of this story stated that Mr Khairy was on the campaign trail for Datuk Harrison Hassan, the PN candidate for Jeram in Negeri Sembilan. It should be Selangor. We are sorry for the error.