‘Let there be contest for all Umno posts’

While some veteran Umno leaders call for contest for all Umno posts, one leader says it is better for the party leadership to strengthen its divisions first in the aftermath of the GE.

PETALING JAYA: No contest for Umno’s top posts would work against party president Najib Tun Razak’s transformation agenda, said former Umno Wanita deputy chief Kamilia Ibrahim.

She said this in response to Umno secretary general Tengku Adnan Mansor’s remarks yesterday that there may not be contest for the top five Umno posts in the party polls, slated for end of the year.

“Probably he (Tengku Adnan) said this to prevent a split in Umno but it works against Najib’s transformation plan,” said Kamilia.

Today’s New Straits Times reported Tengku Adnan as saying that there may not be contest for the Umno presidency, deputy presidency and vice presidencies as it may undermine the party’s strength.

“This is the general opinion that I have gathered after visiting several divisions recently. We in Umno believe in guided democracy. In democracy, anyone can challenge anyone for a top post, but if it will destroy us, why should we do it?” Tengku Adnan was reported saying.

However, he supported calls for contest for the Wanita, Puteri and the Youth chief posts.

Kamilia said that when Najib amended the party constitution in 2009, it was meant to open leadership posts to all Umno members for contest, in a bid to open more democratic space in the party.

She added that it was good to keep contests open as it would allow senior Umno members to make a bid for posts they liked.

“Some may have been there for a long time. Maybe they want to offer themselves as candidates,” said Kamilia, who was sacked from Umno for contesing in the recent GE as an independent candidate.

She also said that allowing contests for party posts would allow ordinary members to gauge their leaders’ performance.

“Contests for posts allow members to assess their leaders’ performance. If you want to bar contests for posts, then what’s the point of having party elections then?” she asked.

Concentrate on divisions

Commenting on the matter, former Selangor Umno chief Dr Khir Toyo was non committal, saying he would leave the matter for Umno leadership to make a decision.

“Of course we made some amendments to the party constitution to be more inclusive but it is up to the leaders to decide,” he said.

However, Khir said that it was best for Umno to focus on strengthening its divisions across the country, in the aftermath of the general election.

The former Selangor menteri besar pointed out that with Election Commission’s redelineation exercise, several Umno divisions in big places such as Shah Alam and Kapar may need to be split, to cater for bigger chunk of voters.

“So we need to look at who is going to lead this new divisions. We need good leaders there. You must remember that Barisan Nasional lost almost in all urban seats,’ said Khir.

He added that the leaders of the new divisions must be well accepted by grassroots in order to curb infighting among party members.

“And if you can stop infighting at the grassroots level, then you won’t have much problems in the top level,’ said Khir.

When contacted, former Rural and Regional Development Minister Aziz Shamsuddin said, “in a democracy, it’s better to contest.”