Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's retirement in October is expected to pave the way for his foe-turned-ally Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to return to active politics.

There is talk among Umno members that the former vice-president can help boost the party's chances of recapturing Kelantan from PAS.

"Considering not many cabinet members are qualified to assume the post of finance minister, he would be a great asset to would-be premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi," said a party source today.

Razaleigh who is a Kelantan prince has kept a low profile since rejoining Umno in 1996, after a fallout with Mahathir nearly a decade before.

"He is probably trying to avoid any conflict of opinion within the party, or anything that could bring him into conflict with the party president," said the source.

Furthermore, he added, Razaleigh had faced opposition from within Umno when he and some 400,000 former Semangat 46 members returned to the party's fold.

"However, the post-Mahathir era would open an opportunity for Razaleigh to return to active politics to help Abdullah control the party and the government effectively," he said.

The challenge

In 1987, Razaleigh who was then finance minister challenged Mahathir for party presidency in a contest that would later see the High Court rule that the party was illegal, forcing its president to register a new party called Umno Baru.

Razaleigh lost to Mahathir by 41 votes or two percent of the total votes cast while his running-mate former deputy prime minister Musa Hitam lost to incumbent Ghafar Baba for the deputy president post.

Following the narrow victory for the president and his deputy, the party supreme council ruled that there should be no contest for the top two posts in future.

A disgruntled Razaleigh then left Umno and formed a splinter party called Semangat 46, which failed to make any significant impact. The party was disbanded after the 1995 general election with most of its members returning to Umno.

"Razaleigh still has a strong influence among Umno members. Besides the former Semangat 46 members who returned to the party, he also has the tacit support of a sizeable number of other Umno members," said the source.

At present, Razaleigh is an appointed supreme council member. He is also the MP for Gua Musang and the o­nly Barisan Nasional candidate to win a parliamentary seat in Kelantan during the 1999 general election.

Recapturing Kelantan

However, the source said the post-Mahathir era may see Razaleigh moving up in the party as well as in the government since Abdullah, the incoming president, has no problems with him.

"After Mahathir's retirement, they (Umno members) could openly show their support for Razaleigh.

"As far as Abdullah is concerned, there are no political grudges between them and the latter wouldn't mind having him in his cabinet," he added.

According to the source, this was the reason why Razaleigh had immediately denied rumours that he would challenge Abdullah for the deputy president post in the last party elections.

Another factor working to Razaleigh's advantage is that Kelantan Umno under the leadership of Mustapha Mohamad is facing great difficulties in convincing the locals to vote for the party.

"In the eyes of the Kelantanese, the current state Umno leaders are not o­n par with those in PAS, especially Menteri Besar Nik Aziz Nik Mat," he said.

"Razaleigh can surely assist Abdullah to plan strategies to recapture Kelantan. This will allow the latter - who is also Terengganu Umno chief - to focus o­n winning back the neighbouring state from PAS in the next election," he said.