Defence Minister Hishammuddin Malaysians’ top pick as next PM

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, a leading member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), is a clear front-runner to replace current Prime Minister Najib Razak. a new survey has found.

The UMNO vice-president was selected by 19.8 per cent, or nearly one in five, of the 1,008 respondents polled by the Merdeka Centre between Jan 21 and 30.

A similar number of respondents (19.4 per cent) wanted Mr Hishammuddin to lead the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and UMNO — Malaysia’s largest political party — after the current leadership of PM Najib and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin retire.

In contrast, less than one in 10 opted for Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin or Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as a future Premier. They scored 8.6 per cent and 8.4 per cent, respectively.

The popularity of Mr Hishammuddin — the son of Malaysia’s third Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn and grandson of UMNO founder Onn Jaafar — also cut across racial and political lines. He was the top choice among all three major races, men and women, as well as supporters of BN and the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition alike.

“Hishammuddin is generally seen as ... a political thoroughbred and very experienced, who generally carries himself well in international contexts,” Dr Ooi Kee Beng, deputy director of Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, told TODAY.

Mr Ibrahim Suffian, head of the Merdeka Centre, noted that Mr Hishammuddin was in the limelight last year over the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and was perceived to have handled it well. “He’s not a controversial figure in the media and there have been no open discussions on his problems as minister,” he said.

“People have all but forgotten the keris-waving incident 10 years ago,” he added, referring to the time in Mr Hishammuddin’s second term as UMNO Youth leader when he brandished a Malay dagger and symbol of Malay nationalism at UMNO’s 2005 annual general meeting. The act was considered racially provocative and the minister conceded that it had caused the coalition to lose support among non-Malay voters in that year’s general election.

“Malaysians are astute observers of politics and are insightful enough to see that of the top UMNO leaders in the running, Hishammuddin, despite his flaws, is the one most likely to do a competent enough job,” added Dr Ooi.

Dr Oh Ei Sun, a former political secretary to Mr Najib when Mr Hishammuddin was Home Minister, said the poll result may not mean Mr Hishammuddin is popular.

“It is not so much that he is popular as that the alternatives are comparatively too unpalatable or unacceptable to many members of the public,” said Dr Oh, now a senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

“Being son of a former Prime Minister and cousin of the current Prime Minister certainly carries some weight. He is also quite good looking, but lacks the critical grassroots support from within the party.”

The turnaround in fortunes for Mr Hishammuddin is just as telling as Mr Ahmad Zahid’s decline.

In the survey, Mr Ahmad Zahid was beaten to second place by Mr Khairy owing to the former’s unpopularity among non-Malays. He secured the approval of only 0.7 per cent of the Indian community and 1 per cent of the Chinese.

Outside UMNO, the next best-placed prospects to be Prime Minister were Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) secretary-general Rafizi Ramli (3.9 per cent), Selangor Chief Minister Azmin Ali (3.4 per cent) and PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar (1.7 per cent).

AGENCIES, WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JASON TAN