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Is Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah throwing his hat into the UMNO ring?

THE HERMIT OF LANGGAK GOLF, TENGKU Razaleigh Hamzah, is Malaysia's, and UMNO's, enigmatic politician. An UMNO vice president a year before Tun Mahathir Mohamed entered Parliament in 1964, he remained in UMNO's top leadership until 1987, when he could not unseat Tun Mahathir as UMNO president, and on the outside since. His Semangat '46 failed to make headway, and he returned to the UMNO Dr Mahathir formed after the courts declared the old UMNO illegal. He retired into his residence in Jalan Langgak Golf, burrowed into the ground, and re-built his network with patience and grit over the years so quietly and anonymously that he was all but written off as a politician. But to those who knew him, he worked harder than any UMNO politician to prepare for the day he would return to centre stage. Last year, an important UMNO politician wrote him off as "yesterday's man"; this year, he tells any who would listen that the Tengku is the man to watch.

The man who would not give interviews is now the rage of UMNO. There is reason to believe he won the 1987 UMNO election against Dr Mahathir, and unfairly deprived of it in a political sleight of hand. Dr Mahathir knew that the Tengku would challenge him again, and win. He welcomed, some believe engineered, the court declaration that UMNO was an illegal and unlawful body. This allowed him to form a new UMNO from which he could decide who could be its members. The Tengku was sidelined, but he remained a political threat after he returned to UMNO ten years ago. But Dr Mahathir sidelined him. One story making the rounds is that Dr Mahathir wanted his successor, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, to be unbendable on two points: Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim should remain in prison, and Tengku Razaleigh should not return to mainstream UMNO politics. Which probably explains why the Tengku did not make his moves until after Dr Mahathir's retirement.

Malaysian newspapers who ignored him now report him at length. There was no doubt in those who met him regularly that for all his protestations of disinterest in returning to active politics, he plans his moves with a precision that shook even his closest advisers. His aides did not know of his plans, only parts of it, usually on a need-to-know basis. But the media ignored his moves. His clearest statement the newspapers carried recently was his criticism at the changes in Kelantan UMNO which now threatens to sink UMNO in the state for another five years. He is the linchpin of UMNO in the state, but federal UMNO does not want him around. Nothing could be more wrong. He is too important to be ignored.

He issues statements which the mainstream newspapers once studiously ignored but not any more, even his criticism of Pak Lah's new administration. He is an invited speaker at the 12th Malaysian Law conference, and what he spoke is avidly reported. When on 06 December, the Star reported the Malay Education Congress's plan for a Tabung Putra (Putra Fund), and of the Tengku as its chairman, he re-entered the political mainstream with a bang. Besides the Putra Fund, there is the Malay Development and Education Federation (MDEF) and the Malay Development and Education Research Institute. "The three bodies will play a central role in the education of the Malays in future," he said. The Putra Fund would raise and manage money to further Malay education. It would replace MARA, now privatised to a Malay business man but in unrepayable debt to a Singapore bank, has lost sight of its aims and plans. Even UMNO and its youth wing, which would have stung to action at any suggestion like this from anyone, is strangely silent. The mainstream newspapers, having reported it, retired to the sidelines.

But it will not go away. The Putra Fund is launched tomorrow, 12 December 2003, with the two bodies. The Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, declined to do the honours. It was a political mistake. So Tengku Razaleigh asked the Yang Dipertuan Agung, who would. The Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, declined to do the honours. It was a mistake. The Tengku then asked the Yang Dipertuan Agung, who agreed. He plans the Putra Fund to have an initial capital of RM400 million, but says that if every Malay family subscribes RM10 a month, twice this could be collected. The Tengku does not do anything in halves. He would have got people to pledge more than the initial sum before the opening tomorrow. He says it would be as the Tabung Haji, the Pilgrimage Fund, whose members contribute regularly to go on the Haj pilgrimiage once in a lifetime.

Why is this Fund needed? "The Malays are fortunate because the Government had been paying for most of their education, he said, "but we feel the time is ripe for us to be independent, to take the initiative and complement the efforts of the Government." In other words he does not want the Government or UMNO to be involved in it. That he takes the lead is proof he has political plans. He would not upset the existing UMNO setup. But he is quick to point out the UMNO top leadership is vacant. Pak Lah is Prime Minister but only acting UMNO president. There is as yet no deputy prime minister nor deputy UMNO president. His aides insist they should be elected. He would not categorically say if he would challenge Pak Lah for the UMNO presidency. But the only position he can stand for in the UMNO election is the presidency. The UMNO top brass does not like contests at the top. But Pak Lah was appointed deputy prime minister and acting deputy UMNO president after Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from both positions in 1998, was confirmed in the UMNO elections in 2000. He is now prime minister but acting UMNO president. Given the way Tengku Razaleigh has moved into mainstream politics, he cannot now to even think of turning back. But he continues to keep his own counsel, and smiles enigmatically when you ask him about his political plans.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my