ACCUSED of being the mastermind behind a mass exodus of MPs from Umno, former vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein will get a chance to prove his loyalty in Cameron Highlands today.

The Sembrong MP will campaign for Barisan Nasional in the Cameron Highlands by-election while dealing with one denial after another in recent months following an exodus of lawmakers and members from Umno.

Hishammuddin, who did not defend his post in the party elections in June, has been quiet after BN’s defeat in GE14 in May last year.

Left with only his Sembrong Umno division chief post, he has kept himself out of the headlines.

However, behind the scenes, Umno members said he has been actively planning and making moves.

Despite being a senior member party leader, he did not contest the deputy president or president’s post in June. 

Instead, he let his political secretary Onn Hafiz Ghazi to manage Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s campaign for the president’s post against then acting party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Khairy Jamaluddin and two others.

Zahid won the race but his time at the helm was short-lived. Though still president in name, he is on gardening leave and handed over duties to deputy president Mohamad Hasan last month.

“Hishammuddin did not want to be under Zahid,” a source told The Malaysian Insight, explaining the former’s decision not to contest in the party polls. 

“Hishammuddin could have been appointed to an important post in the party if Tengku Razaleigh had won,” added the source. 

Biding time or wrongly accused?

With that chance now gone, what is Hishammuddin’s plan?

In September, two months after the Umno elections, he held a private meeting with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The meeting was held just as Umno lost two of its prominent MPs and former ministers – Mustapa Mohamed (Jelai) and Anifah Aman (Kimanis).

Mustapa has since joined Bersatu, Dr Mahathir’s party, and Anifah is to start a new Sabah-based party of his own.

Their departures led to speculation that Hishammuddin would go their way. But the former defence minister denied this, saying his meeting with Dr Mahathir was about the country’s future and nothing on him leaving Umno.

However, a source with knowledge of the meeting also told The Malaysian Insight that Hishammuddin and Dr Mahathir did discuss support from some BN lawmakers for the Bersatu chairman as prime minister.

Less than a month after this meeting, Umno was shaken by rumours that 30 MPs would be quitting – and Hishammuddin was again named as mastermind. There were even rumours that he would be offered a cabinet post in exchange.

He again denied all rumours but the spotlight remained on him as a few days later, Labuan MP Rozman Isli left to join Warisan.

The bleeding continued as five more Sabah MPs quit. The federal lawmakers were among the 21 out of 25 Sabah Umno division chiefs who left the party.

Nine Sabah Umno assemblymen and two senators were also part of the exodus, leading to the near collapse of the state chapter.

Rumours then started that Umno now consists of three camps – one under Zahid, who wantsto form a new government with other parties; Hishammuddin, who wants to leave Umno for Bersatu; and those who want to stay on and rebuild Umno as an opposition party.

Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin hinted at Hishammuddin being the mastermind of the defections, calling him the head of a “bangsawan (nobility) faction”, in reference to his pedigree as the son of third prime minister Hussein Onn and the grandson of Umno’s founder, Onn Jaafar.

Hishammuddin issued another denial, tweeting on December 12: “There’s been so many allegations against me with regards to UMNO in the last 6 months and they’ve all proven untrue. In respect of recent developments in Sabah, I again find myself obliged to say that I am not in any way instrumental in them deciding to leave the party.”

This wasn’t enough to quell rumours as days after the tweet, six Umno MPs in the peninsula left the party. The exodus was led by Larut MP Hamzah Zainuddin, who is known to be close to Hishammuddin.

As of today, 17 Umno MPs have left the party, leaving BN with 37 seats in the Dewan Rakyat from the 54 it won in GE14.

Just as Umno recovered from the shock, Hishammuddin attracted the spotlight again when a photo of his family and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali’s family on holiday together in Morocco went viral. 

The photo, uploaded by one of Azmin’s children on Instagram, was later deleted, stirring talk that Hishammuddin was planning moves with the economic affairs minister, said to be favoured by Dr Mahathir.

Azmin said both families “bumped” into each other while on holiday.

It took Hishammuddin’s cousin, former prime minister Najib Razak, to affirm the former’s loyalty to Umno. – January 16, 2019.