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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright December 2022
UMNO's succession planning ended with Najib because his initial N is the last in the acronym for RAHMAN, which symbolises the sequencing of Malay UMNO leaders from Tengku Abdul Rahman (R), Abdul Razak (A), Hussein Onn (H), Mahathir Mohammed (M), Abdullah Badawi (A) and Najib Razak (N).
Some say Zahid with Z being last in the aphabet perhaps spelt the end of the Malay political leadership under UMNO in the country. But others say it could be the beginning of a new acronym starting with A for Ahmad Zahid.
However, the general feeling is that it'll more likely be the end of UMNO political leadership because it's the last letter in the alphabet.
That reminds me of an old guy who remembers a 1969 movie "Z He Lives!" and he told me: Our UMNO's namesake will persist but it'll also be the end of UMNO's political leadership in the country.
Obviously, Zahid is not making any plan for anyone to succeed him. If you were hoping for Mohammad Hassan to succeed him in the next party's General Assembly, it is highly unlikely that will happen because the latter seems quite comfortable in the second highest position in the party hierarchy. He'll bide his time and stick close to Zahid as president.
Political analyst Prof Dr Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmood said he doesn't see any good contenders to challenge and replace Zahid as Umno president.
In fact, Zahid has managed to eliminate potential contenders or those who appear as threats to him by getting rid of senior members like Annuar Musa and Shahidan Kassim before the last election, or even Khairy Jamaluddin who had challenged him once in the past by "selling him down the river" in GE15.
In addition, Zahid is shrewd enough to even sidelined Ismail Sabri whom he made a poster boy in GE15. But earlier on he had prepared UMNO assembly to dent the popularity of Ismail by making it clear that the latter did not want to lend a helping hand in Najib's case while the whole party was all out to help bossku who was on the way to prison.
Hishamuddin Hussein recently made a statement that now he is not in the government he'll have more time to devote to rebuilding the party and help the entire organisation heal itself by repenting for their errors. It sounds like he is standing in the next party elections.
But as Merdeka Centre political analyst Ibrahim Suffian stated, it is still unclear who could go against Zahid for the presidency although some rumours have been afloat about the possibility of Hishamuddin as a contender.
However, there is a possibility that Zahid may yet engineer the party to avoid losing the presidency by making sure the AGM "passes a resolution not to have contests for the top two posts in UMNO".
This will make sure Zahid’s position is secured as well as ensure his cabinet seat. But if he were to continue UMNO's partnership with the old foes, it would be possible that Z will spell the beginning of the end of the party's political leadership of this country.
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