MUKHRIZ, HISHAM, SHAFIE: Is that Dr M's VP lineup to make Umno less 'STUPID'?

KUALA LUMPUR - After hogging the prime minister's chair for 22 years and still trying to influence national politics 10 years after his retirement, Dr Mahathir Mohamad raised eyebrows when he again warned his Umno party to vote in new blood or face obsolescence.

Claiming that Umno leaders at the grassroots level only allowed members more stupid than themselves to join the party, Mahathir warned that such negativity would eventually weaken the party and lead to its rejection by the people..

"They select such people in order to remain much longer as leaders," The Malaysian Insider reported Mahathir as telling a question and answer session at a youth forum in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

Even Dr M says Umno members are not the brightest

His comments are not at all controversial as many of Umno's critics, including from within the Malay community, frequently slam the party as being "stupid" in its actions. "Dumbo Umno" is a frequent description of the party that has ruled Malaysia since 1957.

What caught attention is the growing vehemence with which Mahathir is pressing for young blood to take over in Umno. He is believed to be lobbying for the older Umno leaders to make way for his son, Mukhriz Mahathir, who is vying for one of the party's 3 vice-presidencies

Umno members will be voting for a new leadership lineup next month.

And at 48, Mukhriz is the youngest candidate in the 6-corner fight.

He is up against 52-year-old Hishammuddin Hussein, the Defense minister and Najib's cousin, 56-year-od Shafie Apdal the Rural minister, 60-year-old Zahid Hamidi, the Home minister, 64-year-old Isa Samad, the Felda chairman, and another 64-year-old, Ali Rustam the former Malacca chief minister.

"I think it cannot escape notice that Mahathir is trying to lobby for Mukhriz with all his latest statements about Umno needing new blood. Whether he convince Umno members remains to be seen. But even they would find it odd for Mahathir to complain about members who try to stay on for too long when he himself is the champion with 22 years as PM," Opposition MP for Batu Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

"At another level, if one were to follow his words literally and go by age, it looks like he is hinting to Umno delegates to vote for Mukhriz, Hisham and Shafie. Ironically, this is a configuration that makes sense to the old guard in Umno as Shafie represents the large Sabah membership in Umno, while Mukhriz and Hisham are part of the so-called party elite that they would want to take over from Najib. So it is the usual Umno double-speak - calling for new blood when what is actually happening is the elite wanting to keep control of Umno for themselves."

Intrigue and scheming to intensify

True or not, none of the other challengers are likely to make way for Mahathir and Mukhriz unless Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is also the Umno president, offers them some compensatory carrots.

Zahid, one of the 3 incumbent VPs along with Hisham and Shafie, is seen as rather 'rock-solid' by many in Umno.

While the press has generally written off Ali Rustam and Isa Samad, both men may still surprise. Both have their own long-established support bases whereas leaders such as Hisham and Shafie have been criticized for their under-performance and misjudgments.

"Zahid was a very popular Youth chief and despite being put in cold-storage after Mahathir's fallout with Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, Zahid has managed to maintain his popularity. Some say it is Shafie who is the weak link and (Sabah chief minister) Musa Aman's decision not to challenge Shafie means that Sabah Umno may sabotage Shafie so as to accommodate Mahathir and Najib, who both want Hisham to stay. I guess we will have to wait till October 19 to know," said an Umno insider.

Malaysia Chronicle