Delegates ordered, threatened to back warlords’ choice – KJ
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin claimed that many of the party delegates were ordered and threatened to support the warlords’ choice in the party polls on Saturday.
Khairy, who lost to Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in the contest for the Umno president post, said that the division voting system favoured the warlords as they had strong grip on their divisions, despite the statistics on popular votes showed majority of the party members wanted a change.
“Majority of the members wanted a change but the warlords still turned a deaf ear to the people’s voice.
“They nod, clap, as if they don’t have own stand,” he tweeted.
However, the former Youth and Sports minister said he accepted Saturday’s result with an open heart, but wanted Umno to change and its members to discard the feudal mentality.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also Bagan Datuk Umno Division chief and formerly vice-president assuming the duties of party president, garnered 93 votes, to defeat Khairy who secured 51 votes and the party veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah who only obtained 23 votes.
Mohamad was elected as the deputy president after receiving 110 votes, defeating Umno Information chief cum Ketereh MP Tan Sri Annuar Musa who only managed to secure 47 votes, as of late on Saturday night.
Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor in a press conference on Saturday night said that the full Umno election results would be announced today.