Umno communications director Lokman Adam said this could be what the former health minister would demand of the opposition coalition as “he appears to be a little impatient these days”.
“If he is not patient and does not want to wait for Umno to take him back, he may accept the offer to stand in the state polls under the PN ticket on the condition that he is made the candidate for the post of menteri besar,” he said in his Facebook live session on contemporary politics last night.
He did not mention the state that Khairy would be considered as the menteri besar candidate, but the possibilities are Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.
Lokman, who is also an Umno Supreme Council member, said BN and PH should not be complacent as the unity government is “not safe” at the moment.
“It would not be easy getting the Malay votes especially with PN spinning several issues concerning race and religion to give them the advantage,” he added.
Yesterday, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin offered Khairy a seat in its Supreme Council should the former Umno man decide to join Bersatu.
Muhyiddin, who is also PN chairman, said there are two vacancies in the council and that he has discussed the matter with other Bersatu leaders.
To a question from one of the listeners if Khairy could emulate Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was sacked from Umno in the 1960s but was later accepted back before going on to become the prime minister, Lokman did not rule out the possibility.
“This requires Khairy to be patient and not rush to join the opposition. He is not that stupid to rush into making decisions that could have serious repercussions on his political career.
“I too was sacked by party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi once but he was the one who reinstated my membership,” he said.
Asked why BN chose PH instead of PN after the last general election (GE15), Lokman said Umno’s experience after the party helped Muhyiddin become the prime minister, following the Sheraton Move in February 2020, was still fresh in their minds.
“Muhyiddin started bullying us after occupying the top post. He and the party did not appreciate the fact that Umno agreed to support him although Bersatu only had 32 seats (at the time). He even used his power to split Umno by rewarding some of its leaders and enticing them to join Bersatu.”