As Zahid loses ground, a last-minute challenger could tilt the balance

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's ground in the Umno election appears to be eroding despite no serious challenger has emerged to battle him for the position of Umno president.

While there have been efforts to lobby Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to throw his hat into the ring, only a relatively unknown blogger had declared his intention to contest against Zahid.

Since Najib Abdul Razak resigned as Umno president after leading BN to its first electoral defeat, paving way for his deputy to become the acting party president, Zahid has ruffled a few feathers.

In the north, Zahid did not back Perlis Umno chief Shahidan Kassim when the Perlis royal household rejected Ismail Kassim, the party's desired candidate for menteri besar, and opted for Azlan Man instead.

This led to Ismail lashing out at Zahid as a "weak leader".

In order to win, Zahid must win over a majority of the 191 Umno divisions nationwide.

The Umno election is similar to the US electoral college, where winning a majority of delegates within a division would see a candidate carry that particular division, which represents one vote.

The small size of Perlis Umno, which only has three divisions in the state, may mean that Zahid is less worried about upsetting them.

But to the south, Johor, the largest state Umno chapter with 26 divisions, is plotting Zahid's fall.

With the exception of the division leaders in Mersing, Tenggara, Sekijang and Pulai, the majority want Zahid to go but do not have a candidate to rally behind.

But even in those divisions, Zahid's allies are under threat of being ousted.

Johor-Negeri Sembilan Umno alliance

Former Kempas assemblyperson Tengku Putra Haron Aminulrashid is challenging incumbent Pulai division chief Nur Jazlan Mohamed, a key Zahid ally in Johor.

Tengku Putra did not mince his words on his opinion about Zahid. He took issue with Zahid meeting with Dr Mahathir Mohamad and failing to rebut the prime minister when he was put in bad light.

"Mahathir claimed that Zahid met him to seek advice on how to run Umno but there was not an ounce of rebuttal from him.

"It only angered Umno members and truly convinced us that he does not have the ingredients to lead a great party out of a temporary setback," he told Malaysiakini.

Tengku Putra said it did not look good for Zahid to meet the leader of a rival party to seek advice on how to run his own party.

Some young Johor Umno leaders, including Onn Hafiz, the political secretary to Hishammuddin Hussein, have also pushed for Razaleigh to step up to the plate so that the anti-Zahid movement have a candidate to rally behind.

Outgoing Umno vice-president Hishammuddin, who is the next most senior-ranking Umno member after Zahid, had announced that he will not contest in the upcoming Umno election.

Within Umno circles, there are also talk that Hishammuddin's move is to pave way for an alliance between the state Umno chapters in Johor and Negeri Sembilan against Zahid.

Negeri Sembilan Umno chief Mohamad Hassan had announced his candidacy for deputy Umno president, a position which would have naturally fallen to Hishammuddin if there were no challengers.

Negeri Sembilan Umno has a total of eight divisions. Outgoing Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who is aligned to Mohamad, is gunning for a vice-president seat.

However, Zahid remains strong in his own state of Perak, which has a total of 22 Umno divisions.

Pasir Salak Umno chief Tajuddin Abdul Rahman leapt to Zahid's defence, stressing that he should be given a chance to lead Umno.

Tajuddin, who is also vying for a vice-president position, refuted claims that Zahid showed weakness when he met Mahathir.

“There is nothing wrong in paying a courtesy call to Mahathir by showing respect to the prime minister. If (ex-Umno president) Najib won, everybody will pay a courtesy call and congratulate him. This is what we call mature politics,” he told Malaysiakini.

A gathering of rebels

But there appears to be some shifting of ground in Perak as Kuala Kangsar MP Mastura Mohd Yazid raised eyebrows when she turned up at an event organised by Johor Umno young Turks to promote Razaleigh.

Mastura is from the Kuala Kangsar division in Perak.

The event on Monday was presented to the public as an NGO-organised talk by Razaleigh but the backers were Johor Umno leaders.

Interestingly, also present was Selangor Umno chief Noh Omar, who was seen introducing at least five other Selangor division chiefs to Onn, a prime mover in trying to push for Razaleigh to challenge Zahid.

When approached by Malaysiakini, Noh Omar declined to comment about his presence at the event.

Selangor Umno is the third largest chapter in the country with 22 divisions.

Amid this backdrop, Zahid's clear path to the Umno presidency could quickly turn murky if a heavyweight challenger steps in, allowing disgruntled Umno divisions to rally behind the candidate.

Within Zahid's inner circle, attempts were being made to fend off the possibility of a major contest.

One source close to Zahid told Malaysiakini a proposal was made for Razaleigh to be given the position of opposition leader if Zahid is allowed a clear path to the top post.

To date, Razaleigh is still dithering over his candidacy and no other serious contestant has emerged.

The Umno nomination process will close on Sunday, leaving two more days for possible surprises.

There are 191 division votes up for grab. The biggest voting bank in descending order are Johor (26), Sabah (25), Perak (24), Selangor (22), Kedah (15), Pahang (14), Kelantan (14), Penang (13), Federal Territory (13), Terengganu (8), Negeri Sembilan (8), Melaka (6) and Perlis (3). -Mkini