Support me today so I can be Malaysia’s PM in future: Khairy Jamaluddin

PETALING JAYA - Caretaker Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has declared his ambition to be Malaysia’s prime minister, as he urged voters in the opposition stronghold of Sungai Buloh to support him at the upcoming general election.

While he did not give a definite timeline for when he hoped to become president of ruling party Umno and then prime minister, the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the parliamentary ward in Selangor said he needed to first win convincingly in the Nov 19 General Election, where he is facing six other contenders.

“You support me today, Insya Allah (God willing)... one day, I want to lead Umno; one day, I want to be your prime minister. But to do that, I must win here first,” the Umno stalwart said at a rally on Tuesday night, to raucous cheers from the hundreds present.

“I come to Sungai Buloh not to commit political suicide. I took up this challenge because if I win here, Sungai Buloh is not the limit. One day, we will lead the country.”

But he checked his ambition for now, saying his “brother”, caretaker Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, will be the prime minister if BN wins the national polls.

Datuk Seri Ismail remains BN’s poster boy and will head the government if the coalition wins.

“I am 46 years old, I can wait but (hopefully) not too long,” Mr Khairy added to laughter from those present.

This is the first time he has openly stated he has set his sights on both posts, even though speculation about his career progression in Umno has been going on for years.

In the 2018 party election, Mr Khairy ran for the Umno presidency against Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and lost.

Speaking in Johor, Mr Ismail said: “Khairy has explained that he wishes to be prime minister not now, but in the future. He is qualified to become prime minister in the future if we win the general election and he is able to get support from the party.”

Mr Khairy is a newcomer to Sungai Buloh after being made to give up his safe seat of Rembau, which he has helmed for three terms, to Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan.

Party insiders say he was assigned the tough seat because of his rivalry with Zahid.

His key challenger is Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s Ramanan Ramakrishnan, who replaced the party’s incumbent MP R. Sivarasa.

Mr Sivarasa, the former deputy minister of rural development and a well-known human rights lawyer, helmed the seat for three terms, but is now being replaced due to health issues.

Gerakan Tanah Air’s Mohd Akmal Mohd Yusoff, Perikatan Nasional’s Mohd Razali Md Hamin and Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Jufriz Faizal, as well as independent candidates Syed Abdul Razak Syed Long Alsagoff and Norhaslinda Basri, are also contesting in this ward.