KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian minister Khairy Jamaluddin attended an United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) event at its headquarters on Friday (Nov 7), amid talk that he could soon return to the political party he was expelled from two years ago.
The ex-health minister spoke at a forum titled “Reforming the Education System in the Age of AI and Empowering the Teaching Profession” organised by the UMNO Youth wing and held at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur.
Local news outlet Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported that the audience appeared excited by Khairy’s presence, with some standing up and repeatedly chanting “Hidup Khairy!” (“Long live Khairy!”) and applauding whenever he shared his views during the panel discussion.
UMNO had expelled the former three-term Rembau MP in January 2023 for breaching party discipline, but recent reports had suggested that he was expected to return to the party ahead of the Sabah state election on Nov 29.
“I wish to thank UMNO Youth – firstly for organising this event… and secondly for being brave enough to invite me today,” he said on Friday.
When asked later if he is returning to UMNO soon, he replied: “When the time comes, I will inform the media.”
UMNO Youth chief Muhamad Akmal said that he had invited Khairy with the party’s future in mind.
“We organised this programme for the country’s future, and we dared to invite KJ for UMNO’s future,” he was reported by FMT as saying, using Khairy’s acronym which he is commonly known by.
Akmal added that he was unsure if this would lead to disciplinary action against him.
“I don’t know if I will get a ban after this or not. If I do, please invite me to speak on the ‘Keluar Sekejap’ podcast,” he was quoted as saying by The Star, referring to Khairy’s podcast platform which has 397,000 subscribers.
Akmal added that UMNO Youth welcomed the return of those who remained loyal to the party.
“I’ve always said that there’s no point in fighting for too long. Let’s unite and come together … what matters most is that UMNO can move forward,” he said when asked about Khairy’s potential return.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/khairy-jamaluddin-umno-event-rejoin-expel-5454861
