‘We are going for it alone’
Candidates insist they are not teaming up for Umno polls
KUALA LUMPUR: Amid intense speculation, candidates vying for top positions in Umno insist they won’t be forming teams to contest the party polls on June 30.
They include Negri Sembilan Umno chief Datuk Seri Muhammad Hassan and fellow supreme council member Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani.
Muhammad is going for the party deputy presidency while Johari is vying for one of the three vice-president posts.
Both said their joint presence at the Umno headquarters to file their papers at the same time yesterday was a mere coincidence, and denied they were part of a cai tan (menu of names).
“For the time being, I am alone, I have no teams,” said Muhammad.
“We want to give Umno members more choices so that they are not restricted by any ‘groups’,” he added.
Others who accompanied Muhammad and Johari yesterday were Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin and Datuk Shamsul Anuar Nasarah, who are also supreme council members.
Observers are keenly watching whether Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, who is carrying out the duties of the party deputy president, will follow suit.
For the top job, so far only Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is carrying out the duties of the president, has submitted his form to contest the presidency.
There is talk that Gua Musang division chief Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah may make a bid for the top job.
Umno, said Johari, cannot afford any further split due to the existence of different teams of candidates.
“We should regard this as a contest between siblings where the losers will support the winners; we must have this spirit,” Johari added.
The atmosphere at Umno headquarters was low key, with the candidates arriving on their own without any supporters in tow to submit their papers ahead of the June 17 deadline.
Federal Territories Umno Youth chief Datuk Mohd Razlan Muhammad Rafii, who submitted his nomination papers to contest for a position in the party’s supreme council, said the presence of teams in Umno was a problem.
“When we team up, we are ‘forcing’ members to vote based on leaders and their close friends.
“The grassroots no longer want to hear words like ‘clans’ or ‘teams’, they just want to pick the best among the candidates,” said Mohd Razlan.
Others spotted at the headquarters yesterday were Wanita Umno chief Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, supreme council member Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim and Terengganu Umno chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abd Rahman.
They all declined to comment when approached. It is understood that some of them were at Umno headquarters to attend a meeting.