The Malaysian Insight

GRASSROOTS members are divided on whether the Umno president’s position, currently held by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, should be contested in the upcoming party polls. 

Some see it as an advantage for Zahid, who has already expressed his willingness to be challenged as he could prove his ability to maintain control over the Malay party. 

The election would also let Umno members see the characteristics of those who are willing to openly challenge the Bagan Datuk member of parliament, party members said. 

Some fear that the competition for positions would affect the stability of the government. 

Regardless, the party should be open to allowing Zahid to be challenged, said 29-year-old Umno Youth wing committee member Nur Izzat Nabil Bakari, who was confident that Zahid would be able to retain his position as he did in the 2018 party election. 

He said Zahid had the advantage of being the “saviour” of Umno because he was able to rescue the party from continuous decline after losing the recent general election (GE15). 

“The position of president should be contested. We should not block members’ voices; we want them to have the right to speak so that we can hear opinions, and only then can we move forward. 

“We think Zahid can win the presidency because he has saved Umno from being buried,” Nur Izzat said. 

He said the party still managed to be part of the unity government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim even though Barisan Nasional only won 30 seats. 

“(In the 2018 election), Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah challenged the presidency, and even if their results were combined, they could not compete with Zahid’s score at that time.” 

Zahid had managed to hang on to his position, defeating Khairy, who got 51, and Tengku Razaleigh, who received 23.  

“We, the grassroots in Bagan Datuk, will still elect the president. If not for him, Umno would be buried by Bersatu. Zahid is the saviour of Umno,” said Nur Izzat. 

Some grassroots leaders fear that the upcoming election will be divisive and would be subject to manipulation by outsiders. 

Pasir Putih Umno head Sapian Mohd Kohor, 65, is worried that Zahid will lose if he faces a candidate sponsored by “certain people”. 

“If there is a candidate who is sponsored, the person who could win will still end up losing,” he told The Malaysian Insight in Kampung Gajah, Pasir Salak, recently.

Sapian thinks that Zahid’s position as president should not be challenged in the upcoming election. 

“The position of president for the time being does not need to be contested; we are afraid that there are sponsored candidates. 

“(Some are accused) of wanting to sponsor. There must be a purpose; there must be an interest, maybe something that is easy to buy. It is likely not (sponsored) by Umno insiders but by people outside Umno,” he said. 

Similar concerns were voiced earlier by Umno’s information chief Hizatul Isham Abdul Jalil, who said that the shift in power within the party could affect the stability of the unity government. 

However, Umno said it did not intend to amend the constitution to prevent the party’s highest position from being contested. 

There are members who see the party polls as nothing more than an internal struggle for power. 

An Umno member from Pasir Salak, who only wanted to be known as Adi, said the situation would worsen if Zahid lost. 

“Those who are competing for the top post will surely get a position. If Zahid is still a member of parliament, still in position, there is pension and allowance. 

“But later if our politics is chaotic, what will happen to us, the people below? The price of goods will go up; it’s hard to even afford chicken and eggs now. 

“We haven’t stopped fighting about politics when the reality is that people’s lives have not changed,” he said. 

Another Umno member, Kamaruzzaman Kamaruddin said Zahid’s opponents would show themselves openly in the polls. 

That way, it would be easier to get rid of them, he said, referring to the group of Umno MPs who were inclined to support vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob. This group got called the “prime minister’s cluster” when Ismail became the ninth prime minister. 

“Let him be challenged, so that we know who supports and who does not support. 

“People who badmouthed Zahid are also happy to say that the prime minister’s gang is the only one who doesn’t like him when in Umno, the majority still support him,” he said. 

Among the names mentioned as members of the group is former member of Umno Supreme Council Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, who was suspended from the party for six years and dropped from candidacy in GE15 for publicly criticising Zahid. 

Khairy Jamaluddin and former vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein are seen as potential candidates to challenge Zahid.  

However, Kamaruzzaman still thinks that Zahid has an advantage because he also managed to retain his parliamentary seat, compared to his former challenger Tengku Razaleigh, who failed to defend his. 

“Even though (Zahid) only won by more than 300 votes (in GE15), it means he is reliable, better than Tengku Razaleigh, who lost in the constituency that he held for a long time.” – January 10, 2023.