By Clara Chooi
SHAH ALAM, April 12 — Former Perak mentri besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin asserted last night that Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had told him to “be ready” to rule Perak again, pre-empting Barisan Nasional’s (BN) possible fall in the coming polls.
The PAS leader said Tengku Razaleigh, popularly known as “Ku Li”, had conveyed the message to him during a function in Ipoh’s Syuen Hotel on April 1.
The Kelantan prince, Nizar added, had said it would be two key issues that was likely to turn the tide against BN in the next election: the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal and the purportedly “spendthrift ways” of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.
“Ku Li said that the cattle issue (NFC) had truly affected the hearts of the Malay electorate, particularly those in the villages,” as well as allegations linking Rosmah to a diamond ring reportedly valued at US$24 million (RM72 million).
“PR (Pakatan Rakyat) does not even need to campaign very hard,” Nizar said before an audience during a forum on the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) federal student loan scheme at Dewan Kiambang MBSA here last night.
Nizar joked to the crowd that PR’s campaign materials could include flyers bearing only pictures — Rosmah and former minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil at front, and cattle images on the back — and this would be enough to convey their message to voters.
He claimed that recent voter surveys from various pollsters, including the independent Merdeka Center, have all pointed to BN’s imminent fall in the northern state.
“That was the message from Ku Li. Be ready, he said, it may be very difficult for BN... perhaps it can only retain three states.
“(He said) I am here to make sure you are well-prepared for the uncertainty,” Nizar said.
Speaking to reporters later, the PAS leader explained that he had met with Ku Li when the latter was in Ipoh to launch a book.
The Gua Musang MP, Nizar said, had provided “a lot of internal news” to indicate that BN would be facing “a lot of difficulty” to retain power in the coming polls.
This, he added, was the very reason why Najib has been visiting Perak more than the other states.
“Ku Li was more or less saying we should give out the good word.
“So I think his feedback was more or less what (former Selangor mentri besar) Khir Toyo and what Tun Daim Zainudin had said before,” he said.
On the two issues raised by Ku Li, Nizar said that PR would be “maximising and optimising” them to woo the Malay vote in the next election, widely expected to be called in June.
“It would cost about three sen, maybe five sen for coloured prints of these campaign materials... Just the faces of Rosmah and Shahrizat would be enough to paint a thousand words,” he said.
The opposition parties of DAP, PKR and PAS ousted BN from Perak in Election 2008 but was toppled from power barely a year later following the defection of three lawmakers.