No clear lines in Umno polls
Grassroots will seek balance between experience and fresh ideas
IT’S hard to find a Lone Ranger in the race for the three Umno vice-president posts.
Most who have run for the third most powerful job in Umno were not soloists but part of a team.
In the 1987 Umno polls, there was Team A led by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Team B by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, reflecting a split in the party at the time.
Team A members, who included vice-presidential candidates Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Tan Sri Wan Mokhtar Ahmad, had won.
Then, there was Team Wawasan in the 1993 Umno election.
Led by Anwar who won the deputy president post uncontested, Team Wawasan’s vice-president candidates – Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib – also triumphed.
This time, Umno insists there won’t be anymore cai tan (menu), papan (board), perahu (boat) or any other euphemisms to describe a team of running mates.
Teams have both strong and weak members, and voting for a whole team means denying victory to other good candidates who are not in it.
In the past, teams have also led to infighting, and with Umno now an opposition party, that’s the last thing the party needs for its revival.
While party leaders have described Saturday’s Umno election as a friendly contest within a family, this has not stopped speculation.
This Saturday, seven candidates are contesting for the three vice-presidential positions.
They are Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Datuk Seri Ahmad Said and Gua Musang Umno committee member Sheikh Razali Sheikh Hamad.
Of the seven candidates, the most influential – on paper, at least – is Mohamed Khaled, a former federal minister and Johor mentri besar.
The current Johor Umno chief, he supposedly still wields considerable influence in the state and has had experience running for the vice-presidency in 2008, receiving the fourth highest number of votes.
Talk is that Mohamed Khaled and former second finance minister Johari and Umno deputy president candidate Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan support Razaleigh.
“They have formed a team and are seen as moving together as one group,” said a Johor Umno insider.
Of the seven vice-presidential candidates, former deputy agriculture and agro-based industry minister Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman is said to be among the closest to Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Razaleigh’s rival for the presidency.
Also a big question is who among the seven are aligned with former Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who is making his bid as well.
An insider from his camp insists the former youth and sports minister is a “Lone Ranger”, contesting the presidency without any vice-presidential running mates.
The other big unknown is where former rural and regional development minister Ismail and former education minister Mahdzir stand.
An Umno official said none of the candidates want to tunjuk kuku – to “show their claws”, their allegiance to any of the presidential hopefuls.
One reason for this, the official said, is that it is very hard to read how the 140,000 delegates are going to vote this time after the defeat and near-collapse of Barisan Nasional.
Some observers predict that the delegates will make sure that there is a balance between experience and fresh ideas in the coming line-up.
But others see results of last Saturday’s polls for the Wanita Umno, Youth and Puteri wings as a sign the grassroots want a fresh start.
This means they will vote for leaders with minimal association to the previous leadership of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
They point to the victory of relative outsider Datuk Seri Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki as Umno Youth chief as the grassroots wanting a clean slate.
If the desire for change is strong, then incumbency and experience may not be enough for victory.
Umno will instead choose candidates – regardless of age – who can bring about the change it needs.