In Nenggiri, Umno relying on Ku Li, 87, to turn fortunes around

Whether Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah still holds sway in the constituency he represented for more than four decades will be known after next month's by-election in Nenggiri.

The Umno veteran, popularly known as Ku Li, served as MP for Gua Musang, the parliamentary constituency where Nenggiri is located, for 12 terms from 1974.

However, the Malay tsunami in the last general election ended the era of Ku Li, who was once seen as the man who could topple Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the political giant who led the party for more than two decades before returning in 2018 to unseat the party after 60 years of federal power.

The Umno leadership hopes that the influence and respect for Ku Li will translate into support for Barisan Nasional (BN).

This could well be the reason why Umno appointed the 87-year-old to lead the BN campaign in Nenggiri.

One political observer says Ku Li's aura is undeniable and that he could at least give Perikatan Nasional (PN) a run for its money, unlike the situation in other Malay-majority seats.

"He knows the 'psyche' of the voters there better. I think his decades of experience as the Gua Musang MP gives him an edge with the voters," says Rabi'ah Aminudin of the International Islamic University of Malaysia.

The by-election in Nenggiri was called after the incumbent, PN's Mohd Azizi Abu Naim, lost his Bersatu membership after defecting to the ruling bloc in violation of the party's constitution.

Nenggiri is the only seat held by defecting Bersatu members for which a by-election has been called,  in keeping with the anti-hopping law passed in 2022.

Seven other seats - one state seat in Selangor and six parliamentary seats - including Gua Musang which Azizi also holds - were not declared vacant following controversial decisions by the respective speakers.

In last year's state elections, Azizi won the Nenggiri seat with 6,517 votes, defeating BN's Ab Aziz Yusoff by a majority of just 810 votes.

The victory came a few months after Azizi became the "giant slayer" when he ousted Ku Li from Gua Musang in the general election held in November 2022.

Local Umno strongman Mohd Syahbudin Hashim said Ku Li was synonymous with Gua Musang and was credited with the development of the constituency and many other contributions to the residents.

Syahbudin, who is also Gua Musang Umno deputy chairman, said that by appointing Ku Li to head the campaign, the party wanted to make up for its losses and correct weaknesses that had been "overlooked" in the last two elections.

"The fact that Umno members did not turn out to vote in the last general and state elections was also to blame," he said.

"This time, Ku Li will change the strategy to appeal to voters in Nenggiri," Syahbudin, who is also the assemblyman for Galas, told MalaysiaNow.

BN is also expected to use the usual argument that it is part of the federal government to convince voters of the benefits of voting for the coalition.

Mohd Rosdi Aziz, who is in charge of the BN war room in Nenggiri, insists that Ku Li is still influential and the community in Hulu Kelantan still looks up to him.

He said Ku Li's royal lineage also gives him a "unique advantage".

"His defeat was due to the perception that the media has successfully played up," Rosdi said, acknowledging nevertheless that there is a deficit of support for Umno.

He said that while there is a wave of discontent against Umno, this is not the case with Ku Li.

Former Umno information chief Isham Jalil said that while Ku Li can attract votes, there are also many factors that could cause voters to reject BN candidates.

He pointed to the cooperation between Umno and DAP, which is far from acceptable to  Malays.

Isham said the recent decision to scrap the diesel subsidy will also work against the ruling coalition.

"In Sungai Bakap, these were the reasons why Umno supporters either did not vote or voted for PN," Isham said, referring to PN's big win in the Penang by-election earlier this month.

Using a pejorative term for the Umno-DAP collaboration, Isham also referred to the controversy surrounding the sale of Malaysia Airports shares to a company owned by US fund manager BlackRock.

"Voters may love Ku Li, but if they vote for the 'Umdap' candidate, it would mean they are voting for Anwar Ibrahim, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and BlackRock," he said, referring to the PKR and Umno presidents.

At the same time, he said PN cannot take the Nenggiri election for granted.

He said Zahid was desperate for a win in Nenggiri as it would once again show whether Malays accept the party's cooperation with DAP.

Meanwhile, Rabi'ah said the BN campaign in Nenggiri will continue to be dominated by development issues.

But she said the overwhelming Malay majority in Nenggiri means the opposition coalition has a good chance of retaining its support.