Zahid flexes muscles in Melaka

IT was a moment that Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh had been dreaming about for ever so long and the dream finally came true.

Ab Rauf, 61, was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Melaka while Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali, the man he replaced – or pushed out, as claimed by some – looked on wearing a rather glum expression throughout the solemn ceremony.

Sulaiman had shed tears when bidding farewell to his staff earlier last week.

He said he had followed his heart in resigning whereas Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Sulaiman was stepping aside for health reasons.

Sulaiman, 57, did have some heart-related issues, so both men were actually saying the same thing in different ways.

Ab Rauf has taken to the appointment like a fish to water. He has been moving around like a human dynamo.

He visited his parents’ grave near the kampung where he grew up, accompanied by his first wife and their sons, hosted a buka puasa gathering at a hotel that he owns, and made the rounds at Ramadan bazaars in the Masjid Tanah area where he is the Umno division chief.

Ab Rauf has finally arrived and he did not get there by luck but through careful planning.

However, those in the know say that it is less a triumph for Ab Rauf than another show of strength on the part of Ahmad Zahid.

“This is a Zahid show, it is about Zahid flexing his muscles over Umno and in this case, Melaka,” said an aide to a former minister.

Ahmad Zahid is an alpha male who has dominated Umno and manoeuvred the party in the direction to suit his purpose over the last few years.

“He has strengthened his hand after every crisis,” said the above aide.

He avoided a contest for the presidency but has emerged as one of the most powerful presidents Umno has had. He has rewarded those loyal to him with appointments in the party as well as to the boards of Mara, Felcra and Risda.

Ab Rauf’s appointment is simply another instance of Ahmad Zahid telling Umno who is the boss or, should we say, the new Bossku.

But what happened in Melaka also needed the nod of the Prime Minister and this is where the working synergy between Ahmad Zahid and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim comes into play.

The Umno president gets to put up the man of his choice and the Prime Minister gets another state-level unity government.

It explains why the new chief minister, when asked about his exco line-up, said he would have to refer to his party president.

But Ab Rauf is somebody who gets things done. He was known as the man who can make things happen during the years when he was in charge of the Umno headquarters.

He will bring his own style to the state government.

Former chief minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron claimed that Ab Rauf had set his sights on the chief minister post from the day he moved from the Bukit Bintang Umno division to Masjid Tanah.

Ab Rauf was the prime mover behind the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government in Melaka back in 2020. Sulaiman was supposed to warm the seat as chief minister until Ab Rauf could contest a state seat.

The opportunity came when several assemblymen led by Idris pulled out, collapsed the government and caused a snap state election.

Ab Rauf won the Tanjung Bidara seat in the state election but Sulaiman was retained as chief minister – until now.

But there are also rumblings in the party about why Umno, which won the state with a two-thirds’ majority, has to share power with Pakatan.

Politics has become stranger than fiction because Adly Zahari, the Pakatan chief minister whom Ab Rauf ousted in 2021, has pledged to support and work with him.

The situation will get more awkward for Ab Rauf if he is pressured to include DAP in his new state exco line-up because the Umno base is still uncomfortable about DAP.

Ahmad Zahid will have the final say over the composition of the unity government in Melaka.

The Umno president was in Johor Baru a few days ago where he told a closed-door state Umno meeting that there would not be a unity government in Johor.

According to an Umno insider, Ahmad Zahid had gestured to Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi when he said that there would be no changes in the Johor government although Onn had asked him to resign a year ago.

He said this with his signature grin, but Ahmad Zahid is known to hold grudges and everyone around the table could see it was a veiled threat.

Ahmad Zahid knows how to use his powers as president. He is someone to be feared and obeyed and those loyal to him, like Ab Rauf, will be rewarded.

The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.