Isa undecided on Umno polls

While declaring that he has yet to decide to run in the Umno elections, Tan Sri Isa Samad (pic) said he is in favour of all positions in the party being contested in October.

The Jempol MP and Umno veteran said contests for the positions would allow party leaders to gauge their popularity among the party members.

"Whoever wins, it's because he is popular, whoever loses is because he has no support, it will be like how I won in the general election. People voted for me because I am popular," said Isa, who is also the Felda Global Venture Holdings Berhad (FGVH) chairman.

He is the latest Umno leader to join former Wanita chief Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz in wanting all party positions to be contested in the party polls on Oct 5.

A contest for top party posts was the best way for the Umno leadership to gauge its strength among members, former Wanita chief Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz told The Malaysian Insider.

The veteran leader said such a move to open up all posts to challengers is the best way to uphold the party's unity and strength.

"Only then can you witness who has better leadership skills to hold the party together and make decisions in the best interest of the entire party and not their cronies," Rafidah said in a special interview.

She echoed former party deputy president Tun Musa Hitam's call that all top Umno posts should be open for contest in keeping with the basic principles of democracy.

"The argument that if you contest, it will divide the party, is nonsense," Musa was quoted as saying by the Singapore Straits Times on Monday, adding, "That is merely a political argument that serves the incumbents or those who worry about their positions.”

Among those leading the call for a no-contest for the party's top two posts were former Umno president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was never challenged in Umno Baru, formed after the old Umno was declared illegal in 1988.

Dr Mahathir said that while he supported contests in the spirit of democracy, he was worried that Umno might be fragmented if there were fights for the posts of president and deputy president.

Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also echoed similar calls that there should not be a contest for the party president and deputy president posts in Umno polls slated for October 5.