The revival of Mike Tyson

While the Umno’s emotional-charged assembly was underway last week, the party’s information chief Muhammad Muhammad Taib was sworn in as a senator.
(read opposition leader Lim Kit Siang’s take on it here)

The ex-Selangor MB’s political career looked dead and buried when he was forced to resign from the MB post in April 1997 after being caught and charged in Australia for breaching their financial regulations.

He somehow maintained his party vice presidency post, until he was voted out in 2003 in a purge led by a team backed by the new premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

However he had always held a strong grassroots support and realising this Abdullah appointed him as the party’s info chief in the next year.

Now with his appointment to the senate, words are that Muhammad, also affectionately known as Mike Tyson, is almost about to complete his comeback to the mainstream politics.

The speculation is that Abdullah will lead him into the cabinet.

Of course, Abdullah has denied this, or of any impending cabinet reshuffle. (read here)

But lets look at the possibilities here:

Cabinet reshuffle:

During the Umno AGM, delegates had asked for a special ministry to look into the affairs of the Malays and to rein in the government-linked companies (GLCs).

Some of the delegates also said that the energy, water and communication ministry be split so that the communication portfolio could be held by a Malay/Umno minister to disseminate better information to the grassroots.

We know that there are pressures from Umno members for Pak Lah to create a special ministry for the Malays.

People support:

And this is where Muhammad comes in. It is no doubt that he still has a strong support in the grassroots, especially among the rural Malays. Who better then him to convey and implement the government's 9th Malaysian Plan with specific target to achieving the 30% bumiputera equity share in the economy pie?

It will be easier for him to also propagate party propaganda to the grassroots if he is given a ministry to cater for that community.

Political manoeuvring:

This is the most interesting aspect of all the current speculations.

Firstly the second finance minister Nur Mohamad Yakcob’s senatorship ends in January 2007. Of course Abdullah can then extend the term for another three year and let him continue as a minister.

As I see it, I don’t think Muhammad is going to be in the cabinet to replace Nur Mohamad - unless the second finance minister wants to quit - but there are no signs of that at all.

And then we have Aziz Shamsuddin, the rural and regional development minister and a Mahathir loyalist. Apparently he could not get along with Abdullah and has tendered his resignation. Aziz, however, has denied this.

But if Abdullah wants to have a complete control on the cabinet and cut loose any ties with Mahathir, he will accept any signs of resignation from Aziz.

And won’t Muhammad slot in just nicely into this portfolio?

Political powerbase:

Finally we have the Khairy factor.

It is a well known fact that Khairy and Selangor MB Khir Toyo do not get along well at all - that means by extension Abdullah too doesn’t share a good relationship with Khir.

Recent events - the latest being the Zakaria Deros/Istana Zakaria fiasco - have showed that there is a big power play between Putrajaya (Khairy and gang) and Shah Alam (Khir) to get a bigger power base in Selangor.

(Guess who was at Zakaria’s open house two days ago? Did Khairy’s presence give him the courage to send a message to Khir that he still has strong support from the ground?)

Muhammad can come in here as a saviour for Khairy (and Abdullah). Being the deputy Selangor Umno chief, he can be called in to hold the leash on Khir and at the same time help his political bosses to gain stronghold in Selangor - all so that Khairy will have a better standing in the event he wants to move up in party and government.

Whatever it is, the next few days will reveal the truth about Muhammad’s revival.