KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — Former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin is expected to rejoin Umno before the Sabah state election at the end of next month.
According to sources, the former Rembau MP — now a radio presenter on Hot FM — has already received the blessing of the party’s top leadership, particularly its president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, to return to Umno‘s fold, Berita Harian reported today.
The green light was reportedly conveyed personally by the Deputy Prime Minister to Khairy, or KJ, when he attended the wedding of the daughter of Perlis Umno liaison chief Datuk Rozabil Abdul Rahman last Sunday.
“At the meeting, Zahid himself told Khairy to submit his membership form to become an Umno member again.
“Khairy is expected to assist in Umno and Barisan Nasional’s (BN) campaign during the Sabah polls. Many of the candidates to be fielded are of his generation and among his political peers,” the source said.
The source also revealed that Khairy is being considered as a potential BN candidate in the next general election to contest the Kepala Batas parliamentary seat.
“That constituency was the traditional seat of his father-in-law, the late Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,” the source added.
Meanwhile, a party source said Umno has yet to receive any formal application from Khairy to rejoin the party.
Khairy’s return is expected to inject fresh momentum into Umno’s efforts to regain Malay support, particularly among the younger generation.
In January 2023, Khairy was expelled from Umno for openly criticising the party’s top leadership during the 15th general election campaign.
However, he has since repeatedly declared that he would not join any other political party, citing his continued loyalty to Umno.
During GE15, Khairy contested under BN in Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) stronghold of Sungai Buloh. Although he lost, he managed to secure an impressive number of votes and significantly reduced PH’s overwhelming majority in the constituency.
While PH’s candidate Datuk Seri R Ramanan retained the seat, his winning majority dropped sharply to just 2,693 votes — a stark contrast to the 2018 election, when PKR‘s R Sivarasa won the seat with a majority of 26,634 votes.
During GE15, Umno and BN were at one of their weakest points, winning only 26 parliamentary seats and failing to secure any in several states, including Selangor, Melaka, Perlis, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
Khairy first joined the Cabinet under Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Minister of Youth and Sports, earning praise for his management of the 2017 SEA Games and the introduction of the National Sports Council’s Podium Programme, aimed at winning Malaysia’s first Olympic gold medal, as well as the National Football Development Programme.
He later served as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology, playing a key role in developing the MySejahtera app and overseeing the country’s vaccine procurement during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under Malaysia’s ninth prime minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Khairy was appointed Health Minister, taking full responsibility for the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination rollout.
