Zahid welcomes Ku Li’s challenge for Umno top post

Updated 5 years ago · Published on 16 Jun 2018 6:50PM · 2 Comments

Acting Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi says the party cannot afford an ugly fight in the elections due soon. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, June 16, 2018.

THE acting Umno president, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, today welcomed Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s decision to challenge him for the top post, saying that the Malay party was open and democratic.

However, he cautioned that the contest should not lead to a repeat of the 1987 split.

“Tengku Razaleigh’s announcement proves the commitment that all positions in Umno are for open for contest. It shows that Umno is more democratic now.

“But Umno should not be split into two as it was in 1987 even though we are being more open in our execution,” he said statement hours after the former finance minister announced his candidature for the position.

Zahid said campaigning should be conducted in “friendship and brotherhood” and should not be used for character assassination.

The former deputy prime minister said he was prepared for any outcome in the imminent contest.

“I am open to accepting whomever that wins in order to form a strong Umno leadership.

“We must use this contest with the intention to prepare Umno for the political battle out there and not to create animosity among ourselves,” he said.

After Barisan Nasional’s loss in the 14th general election, defeated prime minister Najib Razak resigned as Umno president. He was replaced by Zahid.

He stressed that unity in Umno is key to the party’s survival and not the ambition for positions.

Tengku Razaleigh said he was willing to contest the number one post to bring change to Umno and make it relevant again after its trashing in GE14.

Umno also needed to be a strong opposition in Parliament, now that BN has lost most of its component parties after the polls, the Gua Musang MP said.

Tengku Razaleigh’s announcement will make this the most fiercely fought party elections in close to 30 years as Umno seeks to rebuild itself following its defeat in the 14th general election.

He was also involved in Umno’s last contentious elections where he made the historic challenge for the top post in 1987 against then-incumbent Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

That was the contest which broke the party and led to Umno being deregistered. It also birthed the 1988 constitutional crisis.

Tengku Razaleigh left Umno after his attempts to join the new party was rejected.

Instead, he set up Semangat 46 and was responsible for helping PAS win in Kelantan in the 1990 general election, which remains in control of the state until now. – June 16, 2018.

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Comments

  • The suggestion by UMNO Veteran's club to Razaleigh to be President and Zahid Hamidi to be Deputy says a lot about their problem. The old guards knows Zahid Hamidi is no solution but suggesting Razaleigh/Hamidi pairing is basically suggesting old formula - a hypocrisy.. It goes to show - the old do not know what to do, the young do not have what it takes to challenge them.

    Zahid Hamidi urging no split in the party shows what the top knows UMNO risk splitting apart because the old formula do not work anymore.

    Posted 5 years ago by Bigjoe Lam · Reply

  • Zahid claims he and his Ministry is truly corruption free. If so, he should have been more forthcoming about the Arab donor putting 2.6b ringgit into the "whale's" personal account. He should have spoken up when the Auditor's Report was made an official secret and AG Gani was replaced. By keeping quiet, Zahid has aligned himself with the biggest kleptocrat in living history, with or without his skull cap. He has lost the moral high ground in his quest for UMNO's top job.

    Posted 5 years ago by Roger 5201 · Reply