Khairy Jamaluddin is one of the popular faces in UMNO. He was dubbed “tall, dark and handsome” by his fans. Beside being the former Youth and Sports Minister, he was reported as one of the hottest Malaysian politicians.
Even after Pakatan Harapan won GE-14, Khairy still maintained an active presence in the mainstream media. It is only until lately, Khairy’s presence seems to be diminishing . His declining popularity in the media started from January 2019. He gave less than 200 statements compared to the month before, where he gave 346 statements.
Additionally, if we look at Khairy’s movement in UMNO, he is seen to be almost irrelevant in the past month. He does not even make it to the top 20 of “UMNO” influencers list. Comparatively, his successor Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki ranks at number 7. Asyraf has been vocal as an Opposition for the past few months. He talks on Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH), Semenyih by-election, PAS-UMNO collaboration and New Zealand mosque attacks.
Comparatively, the Rembau MP today is seen to not be in the frontline to talk on core issues in the political scene, rather taking a ‘backbencher’ role; tackling on social issues like Fraser Anning, Syed Saddiq-Papagomo brawl, and Siti Kasim’s obscene hand gesture case.
Previously, PKR Vice President Rafizi Ramli in his open letter dated December 15, 2018 remarked that Khairy “was one of leading lights of the progressive voice in the country”. Rafizi also hope that Khairy will remain in UMNO and help the party to become a strong opposition.
However, looking at Khairy’s current movement in the media today, it seems like he is not fulfilling Rafizi’s ‘hope’ for him.
Source: Malaysia Indicator
