Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz’s proposed move to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) does not provide the unity government with “good optics”, but a political analyst says there is no written agreement to stop the Umno Supreme Council member from leaving his current party.
Associate Professor Dr Azeem Fazwan Ahmad Farouk said Tengku Zafrul, 51, could gain political strength by joining PKR, which would provide him with a foothold in the Selangor government once his senatorship expires in 11 months.
“Tengku Zafrul is serving his second term as a senator. By law, a person can only serve two terms – either consecutively or otherwise. So, once his second term ends, what’s next for him?” asked Azeem.
“Unlike Barisan Nasional, which has a clear leader in Umno, the unity government is an ad-hoc coalition. There are no written rules about poaching members. Moreover, Tengku Zafrul is not a Member of Parliament, so the anti-party hopping laws do not apply.”
While the value that finance ‘whiz kids’ bring to politics cannot be overstated, the question remains if PKR – a party founded some 26 years ago, whose founding members fought without reward, without position, only sacrifice – is the right fit for ‘the elite’ Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz to advance his political ambitions.
There have been talks in political circles that Tengku Zafrul has been earmarked as a future Selangor Menteri Besar. However, incumbent Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said on Sunday the Selangor Sultan wanted him to finish his term, which ends in 2028.
“There is no smoke without fire. It is strange for Amirudin to come out with a statement if something isn’t brewing in Selangor,” said Azeem.
“If Tengku Zafrul has ambitions of becoming a future Selangor Menteri Besar, he must first join PKR, then wait for a by-election in the state.
“However, which party would give up its seat to him, bearing in mind he lost in Malaysia’s 15th General Election two years ago?”
For the record, before Amirudin, the previous Selangor menteris besar, since 2008, were from PKR.
In 2022, Tengku Zafrul contested the Kuala Selangor parliamentary seat as an Umno candidate but lost to Amanah’s Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad by 1,002 votes after collecting 30,031 to Dzulkefly’s 31,033.
While Umno’s secretary-general Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki recently said that the party would not accept an ally within the unity government poaching its leaders, Azeem said that Tengku Zafrul may have a better chance of building a support base in PKR, as leaders in Umno have already established their power.
Azeem quipped that there’s certainly more than meets the eye in the situation involving Tengku Zafrul.
“Tengku Zafrul comes from a privileged background, an elite. That is why he doesn’t have much support from the grassroots despite his position as an Umno Supreme Council member. Even then, that (the Supreme Council post) is not an elected position.”
“There are external forces which seem to make him (Tengku Zafrul) untouchable, as he has had no issues serving three prime ministers from different political blocs,” he said.
“He was finance minister during Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s (Bersatu) tenure as prime minister, retained the post when Umno’s Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob took over, and is now Minister of International Trade and Industry, under Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PKR).
“He is not a political heavyweight but has found jobs under different prime ministers. Maybe he thinks it is time to move to the state, where different challenges await him.”
Azeem, who is the director of the Centre for Policy Research at Universiti Sains Malaysia, also said some in PKR are worried about Selangor after losing its two-thirds majority in the state elections a year ago, when Pas and Bersatu captured 22 of the 56 seats.
“They need someone to shake things up in the state. Perhaps, Tengku Zafrul is the man who can do this.”
But would Tengku Zafrul turn his back on Umno? A year ago, in an interview with radio station BFM, the former CEO of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd said: “My loyalty lies with the party – Umno. And it’s a process we must respect – to hold the party line.
“But there’s a long way to go, and we must rebuild the party. And as a Supreme Council member, I have a role to play. I would like to make sure we continue to be relevant in the future.”
But when asked by former Bangi DAP MP Ong Kian Ming – who appeared as a guest on the show – if he would run for a state seat in Selangor during the 2023 state elections, Tengku Zafrul said: “If I was offered, yes.”
Tengku Zafrul, however, added that in the parliamentary system, whether he contested for a parliamentary, or state seat, would depend on the party.
“I would not contest as an independent. The decision lies with the party,” he had said.
