LAST year was Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil’s annus horribilis. It was a horrible year where almost everything in her life came crashing down around her – her political career, her personal image and her family’s standing in society.
At times, she felt like she was “floating alone in the ocean”.
The worst of the storm has passed but life for her will never really be the same again after the way the cattle farm scandal or the NFC issue, as it is known, engulfed her family and rocked the Government.
Her younger son’s wedding last week was one of the happy episodes for the family. Her son married a breathtaking beauty from Kazakhstan and the family hosted two wedding receptions – one at a posh hotel and a more rakyat-style gathering at the PWTC for Shahrizat’s vast Umno network.
Her two other children who spoke during the reception said the family had gone through “interesting times”. It was an apt tongue-in-cheek reference to the Chinese phrase for trouble and turbulence.
But Shahrizat is preparing to restart her political career.
The former minister told a Wanita exco meeting earlier this month that she would be defending her Wanita Umno leader post or as she put it, she would be going in “sehelai sepinggang” (with just the clothes on her back). It was her way of saying that she is entering the race with no government position to leverage on.
She said she had informed Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. She did add that the Umno president had been non-committal about it.
Most of the Wanita exco members were aware of her plans. In fact, some of them had urged her to go for it. They also understood that it would be controversial. While it would be quite easy for her to win, it could be difficult for her to convince the party why she wants to stay on.
A few days ago, Shahrizat confirmed her intention to The Star. At around the same time, former Puteri Umno chief Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said also said that she is interested in the post.
These are still early days and more may join the fray. But the reality is that suitable contenders are hard to come by despite the wing having more than a million members.
Shahrizat’s former deputy Datuk Kamilia Ibrahim would have been a natural contender but she is now persona non grata after being sacked for contesting as an Independent in the general election.
Shahrizat’s supporters have been very diligent behind the scenes in preparing the ground. For instance, an insider said a group of them had gone to see Najib after the general election to plead for him not to appoint any of the Wanita MPs as ministers.
Their reasoning was it would be read as an endorsement by the president for the top Wanita post. That, said the insider, was the reason why the two women Cabinet posts are from Sarawak’s PBB.
The four winning MPs from the Wanita wing, Datuk Halimah Saddique, Datuk Rosnah Rashid Shirlin, Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun and Datuk Noriah Kasnon, ended up as deputy ministers.
This, despite the fact that Halimah is a senior figure having served as a Johor exco member whereas Azizah had scored an important goal for Umno in Sabah. She defeated Datuk Lajim Ukin and stopped him from advancing PKR’s cause in the state.
It was a smart tactical move for Shahrizat to fight on a more level playing field.
Shahrizat has turned out to be quite a political animal. Beneath all that feminine charm and allure is a very shrewd politician.
Recently, she made what many saw as a pre-emptive strike against her predecessor Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz whom she toppled after a bitter contest in 2009.
She took the unusual step of issuing a press statement to criticise Rafidah, who is chairman of AirAsia X, for not defending Utusan Malaysia when the airline’s CEO Azran Osman Rani criticised the paper for racial reporting.
Shahrizat was trying to drive home the point that Utusan Malaysia is the voice of the Malays and in not defending Utusan, Rafidah had not rallied to the Malay cause.
Bad blood
Rafidah is still a respected voice in the wing and it was probably Shahrizat’s way of diluting the senior woman’s influence ahead of the polls.
There is a lot of bad blood between the two ladies and some claimed that Rafidah will support anyone who takes on Shahrizat. But Rafidah does not dance to anybody’s tune and she will support who she wants.
Most people in Umno, including the men, think that Azalina will be able to give Shahrizat a good fight but, at this point in time, few see her beating Shahrizat.
Azalina is intelligent, energetic and has real ideas. She built Puteri Umno from zero into a brand name and made it into a force to reckon with. Her wing was so effective that it sent PAS scrambling to set up a copy cat version of it.
People of her generation understand how the Malay political landscape is shifting. It is already evident in the cities and big towns and soon it will spread to the rural areas. Her generation understand that Umno has to adapt to survive.
Anyone who has spoken to her will know she has real opinions and makes relevant comments.
Azalina’s problem is she does not have the Wanita network or track record. She will be seen as a parachute candidate and her tomboy image from the past does not help.
“The Wanita ladies like the makcik type. Rafidah was a tigress in her work as a minister but she is just another makcik when she meets the ladies. I remember her powdering her nose with a cheap compact that the kampung ladies use,” said Terengganu Umno politician Datuk Wan Albakri Mohd Nor.
But during the recent Parliament meeting, many noticed that the Johor Umno circle has begun to rally for Azalina. They were responsible for making her the new chairman of the Women’s Caucus in Parliament.
“Shahrizat is very popular, she has done a lot for women. It is unfair to punish her for her husband’s business decisions. I have been in those shoes, I got blamed for what my husband did. I will support her for another term,” said Segambut Wanita head Ruhani Abdul Rahman who is a well-known figure in the film-making world.
Bukit Bintang Wanita chief Senator Mariany Mohd Yit said it would be a mistake for anyone to underestimate Shahrizat’s power base in Wanita.
Anyone who takes her on would be fighting as an underdog.
Earlier on, some of the ladies had gone around claiming that the Umno president did not wish to see a contest for the Wanita leadership. The rumour was quashed following an official party announcement that all posts will be open to contest.
Shahrizat said she is defending her title to send a signal to women that they must be resilient and not give up when confronted by challenges.
“It is not about posts or position, my cause has always been women and welfare. I have tears in my heart all the time but if I give up and walk away, it would send the wrong message to my supporters because they came out for me through thick and thin,” Shahrizat said.
Her women supporters see her as a victim and among the Malays, the kesian or compassion thing can be quite a powerful factor. They feel she took the stray bullet, she has paid the price and that it is time to go back to the delegates.
But some of the men in Umno view the contest as an attempt to vindicate herself after the way her name was dragged through the mud over the NFC affair. They think she is trying to clear her name.
A number of the men in Umno also think she is a liability and should bow out gracefully given the way the NFC issue cost them votes among the urban electorate. Their opinion is that the women may love her and want her to lead, but it will not help the image of Umno among those outside the party.
“If she wins, she will have the opposition on our back. We are fighting a perception war,” said an Umno official.
A Wanita politician who was campaigning in Pokok Sena, Kedah, said she did not know whether to laugh or cry when she saw a cow grazing under a tree with a poster of Shahrizat plastered between its ears.
“It was an issue even in the rural states,” said the politician.
Shahrizat is not making any assumption despite the clear support that she enjoys. The new party election system makes things a little harder to predict. In the past, the wing’s leadership was decided by only about 1,000 delegates.
This time around, some 100,000 Wanita members will be eligible to vote for who they want to lead the wing that is known as the backbone of Umno.
They will determine the destiny of Wanita Umno and the fate of their popular yet controversial Wanita chief Shahrizat.
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