PUTRAJAYA: UMNO will be considered outdated if the party allows any attempt by certain individuals to stop or prevent top positions to be contested in the coming party polls.
UMNO Padang Rengas division chief, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz said, it is considered outdated and undemocratic of UMNO if the long-standing democratic practices are being stopped.
“The Malay party that is still struggling with its identity will lose its direction. There will be another dark episode for UMNO after its disappointing performance in the last 15th General Election,” Nazri said as quoted by the Malay daily Utusan Malaysia.
Nazri said the proposal seems to belittle the capabilities of Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as the President of UMNO and his deputy Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan to call for the top two posts in the party not to be contested in the coming party polls.
He said in reality, those who suggested the positions of president and deputy president should not be contested did not do that to maintain unity within UMNO but rather to protect their personal interests since they lost badly in the GE15.
“They are worried if the leaders are being changed then their names will no longer be nominated in GE16,” Nazri said.
Meanwhile UMNO youth exco Datuk Muhamad Muqharabbin Mokhtarudin said all positions should be contested including the president and deputy president in the January party election.
Muqharabbin said this is following a recent rumor claiming that the two top posts would not be contested. This is also based on the statement of UMNO Secretary-General Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan on Dec.13 that seems the rumor will become a reality.
“This party with over three million members does not belong to any family. Therefore such a thing must not be allowed to happen,” he said in a statement as quoted by NST
Muqharabbin said UMNO holds the party polls once in three years in 2018, 150,000 delegates voted and chose their new leaders at the division and national levels.
“The party did not want to hold party polls before GE15 to prevent division in the party but to focus on the elections. Now the election is over and why can’t we hold the party polls? asked Muqharabbin.
According to Muqharabbin, Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was the first leader in many years to allow the top post to be contested in 2018.
“This shows UMNO is more mature and democratic. In 2018 there was no issue, those who won were respected and those who lost remained loyal to the party. Why we should move backward after losing badly in the GE15? This shows that changes are demanded,” he said.- Malaysia World News
