KUALA LUMPUR: Many Umno leaders and veterans support the suggestion that the posts of Umno president and deputy president should not be contested at the party general assembly in October.
They believe the strong combination of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, as Umno president and deputy president is the best to ensure the successful implementation of all the party’s transformation programmes.
Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said both leaders must be retained as their leadership was still needed to drive Umno forward and meet the aspirations of the Barisan Nasional (BN).
“We need both of them to lead us…there is no necessity for the posts to be contested,” he told reporters after visiting the 1Malaysia Cure & Care Clinic in Sungei Besi, here today.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Home Minister, said this when commenting on the proposal by the Negeri Sembilan Umno yesterday that the two posts should not be contested in the coming party election.
This was to avoid factionalism in the party as well as to retain the Najib-Muhyiddin combination.
Puteri Umno head Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin also supported the view that the leadership of Najib and Muhyiddin should be retained.
She perceived the call to retain both incumbents in the coming party election as a positive move in achieving the mission for a transformation for the party.
Rosnah, who is also the Deputy Works Minister, said the move was not to deny the rights of members to vote or to deny democracy, but to evaluate that Umno under Najib’s leadership had shown excellent performance when it succeeded in increasing the seats won by Umno in the 13th general election (GE13) recently.
“In addition, Umno had also undergone drastic transformation and had strengthened its general election machinery into the strongest in Umno’s history, and I believe this strength is also felt right down at the grassroots level.
“In addition, Umno under the leadership of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in the last four years has demonstrated that it has provided undivided service to the people, various transformations had been carried out including the move to recognise the voice of the young generation when both the Umno president and deputy president fielded young candidates in the GE13,” she said in a statement in Kota Kinabalu, yesterday.
Rosnah said although Umno had never prevented anyone from offering themselves to contest for the posts, she felt that Najib was the best Umno president for the survival of Umno.
Meanwhile, Cheras Umno division head Datuk Syed Ali Alhabshee also voiced his support for the call through his blog, Umno Bahagian Cheras here, yesterday while reminding other Umno members from allowing political parasites from destroying Umno.
He also exposed the attempts by negative elements to destroy the good relationship between Najib and Muhyiddin who represented the best combination in achieving the national transformation mission.
Syed Ali, who is also secretary of the Federal Territory Umno Liaison Body, said Najib and Muhyiddin had a major agenda to strengthen the party’s internal leadership after the GE13.
He said the party needed a strong and responsible leadership line-up to continue the struggles for Umno’s survival in championing the cause of the people in the country.
Meanwhile, Syed Ali suggested that only the posts of Umno vice-presidents and Supreme Council (MT) members should be contested to give an opportunity to the grassroots to make a choice.
Umno veterans also supported the no-contest call for the party’s two top posts besides suggesting that the posts of Umno vice-presidents should also not be contested in the party election at the end of the year.
Its secretary, Datuk Mustapha Yaakub said the Umno Veterans club did not want a contest for the three key posts in the Umno top leadership to cause a split in the Umno leadership.
“The present team (Umno president, deputy and vice presidents) should be given a new mandate in efforts to strengthen the Umno leadership,” he said in a statement, here yesterday.
Mustapha said the proposal was to enable the Umno top leadership to concentrate on the restructuring of new areas which would involve the setting up of new divisions and new pro-tem division heads.
“The Election Commission (EC) will propose a redelineation of election boundaries and if approved by Parliament, Umno will restructure its divisions,” he said. — Bernama