TENGKU Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, who was once speculated to be the next potential Selangor menteri besar, found his dream dashed recently when his name was excluded from the list of candidates that will contest in the forthcoming six state polls on Aug 12.
According to Selangor DAP treasurer Ong Kian Ming, this is probably due to Tengku Zafrul’s rising popularity, alongside the fact that he was a threat to some UMNO leaders who are aspiring to climb up the ranks.
Speaking at a webinar by ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute today (July 25), Ong said Tengku Zafrul was popular both at the state and national level, and cited his background and “decent” performance as finance minister under the Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob administrations.
“I’m a bit disappointed because I’ve seen Tengku Zafrul in action before. I would have liked to see him as a candidate in Selangor. He would have been an exciting contribution to the (election) campaign,” Ong remarked.
“As discussed by (former UMNO Youth chief) Khairy Jamaluddin and (former Barisan Nasional information chief) Shahril Hamdan [in the latest episode of the ‘Keluar Sekejap’ podcast aired on Sunday (July 23)], they said Zafrul might have been blocked by the state UMNO chief Megat (Zulkarnain Omardin) because Megat Zulkarnain doesn’t want a situation where Zafrul gets a seat and will become more senior than the former.
“(UMNO president Ahmad) Zahid (Hamidi) too didn’t want to push for Tengku Zafrul, so this also shows the kind of challenges in UMNO.
“Zafrul is quite popular among the public, so Zahid may be worried that Zafrul may get ahead and become more prominent in UMNO.”
Ong further told the forum that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, could have lobbied for Tengku Zafrul, but this, too, did not materialise.
He believed this may be due to Anwar not wanting to face further issues when it comes to nominating a menteri besar candidate for Selangor should Harapan-BN win the state election on Aug 12.
“Maybe Anwar himself is afraid that if Tengku Zafrul wins (a seat in Selangor), he is seen as a favourable menteri besar candidate by the palace and this will create trouble for him,” Ong reckoned.
Tengku Zafrul, who is the Investment, Trade and Industry Minister, had been widely tipped to contest in the Selangor election and even to be PH and BN’s menteri besar candidate.
However, the Kota Raja UMNO chief was not among the 108 candidates announced by BN last Friday (July 21). – July 25, 2023
