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Khairy Jamaluddin, the caretaker Health Minister and Umno politician, has been given a tough battle in the upcoming Malaysian general election.
Instead of his former seat of Rembau in Negeri Sembilan, which he has held since 2008, Khairy has been sent to do battle in the federal constituency of Sungai Buloh in Selangor, a supposedly opposition stronghold.
Sungai Buloh 2018
Sungai Buloh is a relatively new federal constituency. It was created in 2018, out of parts of the former Subang constituency.
In that watershed general election, a candidate from the then-opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition won the seat.
Sivarasa Rasiah, a former deputy president of PKR, beat his closest opponent, A Prakash Rao of BN, by over 25,000 votes, The Straits Times reported.
Meanwhile, Khairy won his own contest in Rembau, but with a majority of under 5,000.
A new health minister
Khairy, who was then minister of youth and sports, lost his cabinet role with the takeover of Pakatan Harapan.
However, the collapse of the PH government and the return of BN first alongside Bersatu, and then in their own right, gave Khairy the opportunity to return to frontbench politics.
Khairy was appointed as minister of science, technology and innovation under prime minister Muhyiddin of Bersatu.
But it was his role as coordinating minister of the National Immunisation Programme that saw him gain greater national prominence.
Appointed in February 2021, Khairy was put in charge of the country's vaccination programme against Covid-19.
It was described by at least one media outlet as being "largely successful", and Malaysia was able to progressively lift Covid-19 restrictions in early 2022.
After Umno's Ismail Sabri Yaakob took over as prime minister, Khairy was appointed Health Minister in August 2021.
Ismail Sabri told the public that if they returned BN to government at the election, Khairy would remain as health minister as it would be a "loss" if he wasn't helming the portfolio, Free Malaysia Today reported.
Tok Mat
However, it remains to be seen if Khairy can win a seat in the Dewan Rakyat.
In September 2022, Umno's deputy president Mohamad Hasan signalled that he would seek a parliamentary seat of his own.
Popularly known as "Tok Mat", he said he had the right to contest wherever he wished.
Tok Mat is also the election director for Barisan Nasional, according to Free Malaysia Today.
Tok Mat was also a former long-serving Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Negeri Sembilan, the state where Rembau is located.
On Oct. 16, it was confirmed that Tok Mat would be standing for election in Rembau. Tok Mat said the party is trying to find a "suitable" seat for Khairy in the election, Malaysia Now reported.
Battle for Sungai Buloh
Khairy told reporters on Oct. 21 that he was almost certain he would be given a seat won by the opposition in 2018.
He also said he was almost certain it would not be a "safe seat", New Straits Times reported.
However, there has been movement from the opposing party too. Sivarasa has been dropped by his party and will not be contesting Sungai Buloh.
PKR tapped R Ramanan, the party's deputy information chief for the contest, but he may no longer be standing either.
After the Khairy announcement, PKR's deputy president Rafizi Ramli said the party is reconsidering and may field a "stronger candidate" in Sungai Buloh. The official nomination day is this Saturday, Nov. 5.
Khairy, who ran for the post of Umno party president in 2018 and lost, and who was touted as a possible prime ministerial candidate, now has a tough fight on his hands to remain in Parliament, and possibly in politics.
Top image from Khairy Jamaluddin's Facebook page.