The Malaysian Insight

FOR all the talk about change and reform post-GE14, early party election results suggest Umno has little appetite for charting a new course.

To date, 74 of the 191 division chiefs have retained their positions uncontested; 108 Wanita chiefs also kept their positions without a fight as did 85 Umno Youth chiefs and 126 Puteri Umno chiefs.

These results indicate the party warlords’ continued grip on the party and the members’ lack of desire to offer themselves for positions in Umno.

The favouring of the the status quo could well mean that interim president and former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will find it easy to clinch the president’s post on June 30, said Ilham Centre executive director Hisomuddin Bakar.

Zahid is in a five-man race for the post but his toughest challenges comes from Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and outgoing Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin. The other two candidates for the top position are Bandar Tun Razak Umno division member Mohamed Iqbal Maricair and Umno Iskandar Puteri division member Mohd Yusof Musa@Jamaluddin.

“Overall, I’m not expecting much change in Umno, ” Hisomuddin told The Malaysian Insight.

Zahid is largely popular with division chiefs. Only three divisions did not support him in his bid for a vice-president’s seat during the party’s 2013 elections, Hisomuddin noted. With such a large number of division chiefs holding on to their position, it looks like Zahid is the favourite to become Umno president.

Zahid took on the duties of party president after Najib Razak resigned following Barisan Nasional’s defeat in the May 9 general election.

Universiti Malaya Awang Azman Awang Pawi said Umno would find reform difficult because its grassroots were largely conservative in outlook and ideas about leadership renewal.

“While I do expect some new faces to win, I think 40% will be old faces. It is not easy for them to vote out the old leaders, firstly because they strongly believe in being loyal to their leaders and secondly, their thinking is still conservative and they think these leaders should be given the chance to change,” he said.

Zahid had the advantage of being the former deputy prime minister which made him the more prominent and qualified candidate, said Awang Azman.

Political analyst Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar said that nearly 40% of the division chiefs won their posts without challenge showed the dearth of leadership at the divisional level.

“As I see it, Umno is still in shock over its loss in the general election and has not consolidated ithe rank and file.

“Division chiefs still have influence and funds that give them the edge,” said the political science lecturer at International Islamic University Malaysia. – June 24, 2018.