KUALA LUMPUR: An Umno delegate has proposed that the posts of president and deputy president not be contested in the party election this year to avoid a split in the party.
To justify his call, Kelantan delegate Datuk Zawawi Othman cited the rift that occurred in 1987 after then president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was challenged by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah for the top post.
“What happened then? Umno lost Kelantan in the 1990 general election and until today Kelantan is still ruled by PAS. This is the result of the split in 1987,” he said when debating the presidential address at the 2022 Umno General Assembly here today.
Yesterday, Umno information chief Isham Jalil confirmed that there was a motion for the top two posts to be uncontested in the party election, which has to be held by May 19.
Isham said the motion was tabled by a Negeri Sembilan delegate and was supported by Terengganu, Selangor, Penang, Kedah and Wanita delegates.
However, two delegates took a different stand and wanted the top two posts to be contested.
In rejecting the motion, Federal Territory Umno spokesman Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Mohd Rafique said not having a contest for the two posts would create a negative perception of the party among voters outside Umno.
“If not given serious attention, this issue may have an effect not only on the party but also the 60 per cent Malay voters out there who are watching our actions.
“If these posts are not contested, I fear that voters outside the party may assess Umno in a negative perspective,” the Bukit Bintang Umno division chief said in his debate on the presidential address.
Zainal Abidin said that in principle Umno was an open and rational party.
Therefore, whoever were elected president and deputy president in the party polls would get solid support from party members, he added.
“We hope leaders at the top also have the same commitment and desire to make the party strong again. Federal Territory Umno expresses its support, except for the additional motion number eight which was made unexpectedly for the posts of president and deputy president not to be contested,” he said.
Iskandar Puteri Umno division deputy chief Datuk Pandak Ahmad questioned why there were attempts to bar a contest for only the posts of president and deputy president if the party was truly concerned about unity and stability.
He said posts at the division and branch levels should also not be contested if the rationale for no contest was to preserve unity and stability in Umno.
“Table an additional motion on no contest for party posts in the divisions and branches. No need for approval and agreement of the supreme council and the necessary due process,” he said when debating the motion on the presidential speech.
Pandak said based on Clause 30 of the Umno Constitution and Article 10 of the Assembly Regulations, the motion on the posts of president and deputy president was incomplete and could not be sustained at this general assembly. - Bernama