As the nomination period for the Umno party election comes close to its deadline, former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has confirmed that he will not defend his vice-president position.
He said this when contacted by Malaysiakini this afternoon.
"Yes," Ismail replied in a text message when asked to confirm that he is not running for another term.
The Bera MP, however, did not want to comment on the reasons - adding he would issue a press statement soon.
Ismail Sabri became an Umno vice-president after he won the position in the 2018 Umno election. He bagged the highest number of votes compared to the other two – Mohamed Khaled Nordin and Mahdzir Khalid.
When Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi decided to go on leave later the same year, Ismail Sabri assumed the party’s deputy president duties, while incumbent Mohamad Hasan stepped up to take over as de facto Umno president.
The position also allowed Ismail Sabri to become Malaysia's ninth prime minister in 2021.
He succeeded Muhyiddin Yassin, who was forced to step down on Aug 16, 2021, after 15 Umno MPs withdrew their support.
The 15 Umno lawmakers then backed Ismail Sabri to lead the country.
At that point in time, despite being Umno president and Bagan Datuk MP, Zahid was not seen as fit to assume the top executive office due to his court cases, while Mohamad was not a member of the Dewan Rakyat.
Umno is holding its internal polls for the vice-presidency, supreme council posts, and divisional committee posts on March 18, and the deadline for nominations had been set at 5pm today.
The party has three vice-president posts. So far, eight party leaders have submitted their nomination forms to run in the race, including two incumbents Khaled and Mahdzir.
Six others running for the posts are Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, BN secretary-general Zambry Abdul Kadir, former Johor menteri besar Hasni Mohammad, former housing and local government minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican, Titiwangsa MP Johari Ghani, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said.
The Umno general assembly last month adopted a no-contest resolution for the president and deputy president posts. - Mkini
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