Under the new system, 146,500 party members from 191 divisions will be involved in electing the president, deputy president, vice-presidents and 25 supreme council members. However not all 146,500 votes cast will be counted directly as the party will use the "one division, one vote" system, similar to the country's electoral roll system.
Rashvinjeet S. Bedi, The Star
Umno's new voting system for this year's party elections can help reduce the incidence of money politics but will not curb it entirely.
Former News Straits Times group editor-in-chief Datuk Kadir Jasin is of the view that the voting system will make it difficult for any contestant to use money to gain votes because of the larger pool of voting delegates.
"The people at the grass roots are more sincere and not prone to money politics," he said, adding that money politics could never be entirely wiped out.
Under the new system, 146,500 party members from 191 divisions will be involved in electing the president, deputy president, vice-presidents and 25 supreme council members.
However not all 146,500 votes cast will be counted directly as the party will use the "one division, one vote" system, similar to the country's electoral roll system.
Previously, about 2,500 delegates to the party's general assembly voted to elect the party's top echelon.
For this year's party elections, the quota system that required a certain percentage of nominations from Umno divisions for a leader to be eligible to contest a top post has also been done away with. This means anyone can contest for the top positions now.
In the past elections, there were frequent allegations that the votes of delegates could be bought by leaders and their proxies who gave cash and gifts, arranged for holidays and other incentives to entice voters.
Kadir, however, cautioned that the new system could cause a lot more unhappiness if the voting process was not carried out properly or there was cheating at the grassroots voting.
"It is a double-edged sword," he said.
Former tourism minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman, who has voiced her intention to contest the Wanita Umno head's post, is confident the opening up voting to the grassroots would eliminate money politics in the party.
"The party is trying to clean itself and it's good for a start," she said.
She also said the system was beneficial for underdogs like her as more people had a say as to who they wanted instead of the 3,000 odd delegates in a hall.
Former Umno supreme council member Tan Sri Shahrir Samad said the new system recognised the grassroots character of Umno and he did not think anyone would be unhappy with it.
One challenge in the conduct of the party elections would be getting people who were really neutral and who were the "civil servants" of Umno to supervise the polls, he said.
Political analyst Khoo Kay Peng believes the new system will not curb money politics because the structure of politics within Umno is very top-down and that the power is in the hands of a selected few.
He explained that most branches were created from inner circles although some division and branch leaders could still yield some say.
Most political parties in Malaysia operated this way, he said.
"Money politics can still play a part if candidates can get support from branch and division leaders," he said.
Khoo, however, acknowledged that the new system would make it more difficult and expensive to buy votes.
"It is a start and improvement for Umno," he said.
Umno supreme council member Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin was doubtful if the new system could curb money politics, saying that the "rich would not feel the pinch" if money need to be thrown to secure votes.
He said that previously, the voting process would be over in a day, but now it would require two days and each division would also incur more costs.
"I agree to the transformation but there must be some financial contribution from the headquarters," he said.
The branch elections are scheduled to be held from July 15 to Aug 31, while the dates for the divisional elections and party leadership election will be decided later.
Former News Straits Times group editor-in-chief Datuk Kadir Jasin is of the view that the voting system will make it difficult for any contestant to use money to gain votes because of the larger pool of voting delegates.
"The people at the grass roots are more sincere and not prone to money politics," he said, adding that money politics could never be entirely wiped out.
Under the new system, 146,500 party members from 191 divisions will be involved in electing the president, deputy president, vice-presidents and 25 supreme council members.
However not all 146,500 votes cast will be counted directly as the party will use the "one division, one vote" system, similar to the country's electoral roll system.
Previously, about 2,500 delegates to the party's general assembly voted to elect the party's top echelon.
For this year's party elections, the quota system that required a certain percentage of nominations from Umno divisions for a leader to be eligible to contest a top post has also been done away with. This means anyone can contest for the top positions now.
In the past elections, there were frequent allegations that the votes of delegates could be bought by leaders and their proxies who gave cash and gifts, arranged for holidays and other incentives to entice voters.
Kadir, however, cautioned that the new system could cause a lot more unhappiness if the voting process was not carried out properly or there was cheating at the grassroots voting.
"It is a double-edged sword," he said.
Former tourism minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman, who has voiced her intention to contest the Wanita Umno head's post, is confident the opening up voting to the grassroots would eliminate money politics in the party.
"The party is trying to clean itself and it's good for a start," she said.
She also said the system was beneficial for underdogs like her as more people had a say as to who they wanted instead of the 3,000 odd delegates in a hall.
Former Umno supreme council member Tan Sri Shahrir Samad said the new system recognised the grassroots character of Umno and he did not think anyone would be unhappy with it.
One challenge in the conduct of the party elections would be getting people who were really neutral and who were the "civil servants" of Umno to supervise the polls, he said.
Political analyst Khoo Kay Peng believes the new system will not curb money politics because the structure of politics within Umno is very top-down and that the power is in the hands of a selected few.
He explained that most branches were created from inner circles although some division and branch leaders could still yield some say.
Most political parties in Malaysia operated this way, he said.
"Money politics can still play a part if candidates can get support from branch and division leaders," he said.
Khoo, however, acknowledged that the new system would make it more difficult and expensive to buy votes.
"It is a start and improvement for Umno," he said.
Umno supreme council member Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin was doubtful if the new system could curb money politics, saying that the "rich would not feel the pinch" if money need to be thrown to secure votes.
He said that previously, the voting process would be over in a day, but now it would require two days and each division would also incur more costs.
"I agree to the transformation but there must be some financial contribution from the headquarters," he said.
The branch elections are scheduled to be held from July 15 to Aug 31, while the dates for the divisional elections and party leadership election will be decided later.
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