The decision to ban the top two posts in Umno from being contested was not unexpected.
Despite the talk by some individuals about reforming the party, despite talk about taking steps to reverse Umno's poor performance at GE15, it didn't look like there was much stomach for real reform.
The outcome of the Umno general assembly was that the main leaders protected their positions, and their supporters went along with it, even if there were some rumblings within its ranks.
More importantly, the few politicians who claimed they had had enough and would reform the party offered lukewarm resistance to the ban.
If they cannot fight for what they believe in, or put up a fight for the good of their own party, what makes anyone think they will do the right thing and fight for the rakyat?
If you had to vote for a leader, what qualities would you look for in the prospective candidates? Vision, integrity, empathy, accountability, creativity, patience and inspiration are a few traits that every good leader should have, or strive for.
Umno’s ban means that there will be a continuation of the usual nonsense from the party. Umno may be ripe for reform, but who will initiate the change?
The decision, whereby, the party's top two leadership posts would not be open for election must have been a real bummer!
Waiting on the sidelines, the two main contenders for the presidency simply squeaked their distaste and shrugged their shoulders.
The two men had earlier on, stated their intention to challenge party president, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The more vocal of the contenders, former Umno Youth chief, Khairy Jamaluddin, had said in November that Umno had lost its way.
He had said that he wanted to make Umno a party that Malays could be proud of once again.
When the ban was announced, a true reformist would have tried very hard to fight for what he thought was right.
And there was no evidence of Khairy doing just that last week. He failed to show the courage of his convictions and failed to display any leadership credentials to the delegates.
Khairy is still not courageous enough to take the bold step of making Umno a party which does not just represent only the Malay community. Despite his desire to reform the party, he is still stuck in a race-based mindset.
Why did it take at least two decades for Khairy to realise that Umno is tainted? He refused to call out the convicted felon, Najib Abdul Razak, for stealing from taxpayers in the 1MDB scandal.
Remember the food stall scene where Khairy was full of praise for Najib? This was a few days before GE14 and the fall of Najib.
Khairy also refused to censure other corrupt leaders within the party. He lacks judgement and is like Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who will not leave the party because he wants to reform Umno from within.
It is difficult to see Khairy as a reformist. A leader must make important choices and be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. Perhaps, the university he attended failed to teach him this.
The other contender who stated that he would happily challenge Zahid was the former defence minister, Hishammuddin Hussein.
His political pedigree is most impressive. His grandfather, Onn Jaafar, was the co-founder of the Umno.
Hishammuddin's father, Hussein Onn, nurtured it and was known as the “Father of Unity”.
One might well ask, what is Hishammuddin's contribution to the party and to the nation?
During his second term as the Umno youth leader, he brandished the keris, which is a symbol of Malay nationalism.
He proved that the party had lurched to the right. Ironically, in one brainless moment, Hishammuddin managed to undo his father's good work in uniting the rakyat.
Today, if one were to ask what Hishammuddin stands for, others may possibly name three things.
As former home minister, Hishammuddin did not see the urgency in confronting the Sulu militants who invaded Lahad Datu in 2013. The delay cost us the lives of many of our soldiers.
When MH370 disappeared and we asked him why an air force jet had not been ordered to intercept a plane which had been spotted on the military radar, Hishammuddin's response was that Malaysia was not on a war footing.
Failure to investigate the skies meant that we will never know if the blip on the radar screen was indeed MH370 before it disappeared from radar, from the sky and has never been found to this day.
Perhaps, the most recent incident that most of us remember about Hishammuddin is his role in the RM6 billion littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal.
So, is Hishammuddin prime presidential material?
Umno needs new blood, and a new crop of younger leaders. Their followers only know mediocrity and aged men masquerading as leaders.
Of the two men, Khairy and Hishammuddin, who do you think may make a better president of Umno? Who exhibits the traits of a good leader? Who is more responsible and dependable?
Who is flexible and open to new ideas? Who can think critically and communicate effectively?
Who inspires you? Perhaps, you think neither man is suitable for the post. - Mkini
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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