KUALA LUMPUR, July 4- The two top posts in Umno need not be contested in the coming party election to avoid the members from being divided, said Umno Disciplinary Board chairman Tan Sri Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen Tengku Ismail.
He said Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin were seen as the best combination to continue to steer the party and present government.
“There may be a split (among party members) if there is a contest. Thus, it is better for us to give our support to the (incumbent) president and deputy president,” he said.
Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen, who is also the president of the Group of Ex-Ministers (GEM), disclosed this to Bernama after attending a luncheon with members of GEM and the Malaysian Council of Former Elected Representatives (Mubarak) at Wisma Bernama, here today.
Also present were Mubarak national information head Datuk Abdul Rahman Sulaiman, who is also Bernama chairman, and Selangor Mubarak president Tan Sri Abu Hassan Omar, who is also GEM secretary.
Recently, the Negeri Sembilan Umno Liaison Body had proposed that the posts of Umno president and deputy president should not be contested in the Umno election at the end of the year to ensure that the party continued to remain strong.
The proposal was supported by several top leaders of Umno such as party vice-presidents Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein as well as the deputy chairman of the Johor Umno Liaison Body, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
On the party election which will use the new system following the amendment of the party constitution in October 2009, Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen said it would pave the way for new faces and young leaders to contest.
“This system will give a positive impact to the new members particularly the young ones to be together in Umno,” he said.
For the first time in its history, Umno will see 146,500 delegates from 191 divisions directly electing the leadership lineup of the party. Previously, only 2,500 delegates voted at the Umno general assembly.
Meanwhile, Abu Hassan said Selangor Mubarak was prepared to help the state Barisan Nasional (BN) in the efforts to win the people’s support and wrest the state’s administration from the opposition pact in the next general election.
“If we are invited to offer any kind of assistance, we are prepared to do so,” he said.
In the 13th general election, the BN won only 12 of the 56 seats in the State Legislative Assembly. The opposition pact won 44 seats with the DAP and PAS each winning 15 seats while the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) won 14 seats.
– BERNAMA
