AMANAH’S top leadership, which includes five ministers, is likely to be retained at next week’s party polls, the first after it helped form the Pakatan Harapan government in May last year.

Party officials told The Malaysian Insight that support for its top bosses was due mainly to solid group dynamics and the election process itself, which eschews direct one-on-one personality contests.

The line-up will likely stay the same, despite shocking losses several big-name personalities experienced at the grassroots division levels over the past few months.

“The president and his deputy, and maybe one or two vice-presidents, are likely to be the same people after the election,” said a source close to the central leadership.

Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu is currently the Islamist party’s president, while Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Salahuddin Ayob is his deputy.

The three vice-president are Islamic Affairs Minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa, Tampin MP Dr Hasan Baharom and Kelantan chief Husam Musa.

Ministers Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (Health) and Khalid Abdul Samad (Federal Territories) are in the central committee.

Other central committee members include deputy ministers Mahfuz Omar (Human Resources), Anuar Tahir (Works), Raja Kamarul Bahrin (Housing and Local Government) and Dr Hatta Ramli (Entrepreneur Development).

Political analyst Dr Mazlan Ali said based from his presence at several party AGMs at the grassroots and state levels, ordinary members were largely satisfied with their leaders.

“There was a small wave of change at the grassroots divisions, where some big names were unsuccessful at being elected. But this wave was small and involved a minority,” said Mazlan of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).

Overall, delegates going to the national assembly in Shah Alam next week are likely to choose the same 27 members of the central committee.

“There may be some new faces, but I believe that the committee will, for the most part, be chosen based on the leaders’ seniority,” said Mazlan.

Mature members

Amanah’s election process differs from other political parties in that, instead of vying for specific posts, individuals run for a spot on the 27-member central committee.

At the national level, the 27 central committee members, along with the Wanita and Youth heads and 14 state chiefs, then choose the president, deputy president and three vice-presidents.

The division, state, Wanita and Youth wing election process is the same.

Amanah Youth chief Mohd Sany Hamzan said this system cuts down on internal jostling between personalities, and reduces animosity among their supporters.

It also allows the top five office-holders to be switched at any time by the 27 committee members, without having to wait for their three-year term to be up.

“For instance, if one of the five gets sick and can’t continue, the 27 central committee members can meet and choose between themselves at any time to replace any one of them,” said Sany, who is also Taman Templer state assemblyman.

Another party source said, based on sentiments on the ground, it is likely that most of the 27 members will hold on to their posts.

“Because of the good ties and dynamics between them, most of them are going to be elected again, they will likely choose the same people for the top posts,” said the source.

The grassroots elections, however, had raised eyebrows as some of the party’s most popular names, such as Zulkefly Mohamad Omar, Aminuddin Zulkapli, Siti Mariah Mahmud, Faiz Fadzil and Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, had failed to secure positions at the division level.

Zulkefly is Negri Sembilan speaker while Aminuddin is deputy speaker of the Perak legislature. Mariah is a Selangor exco member, while Faiz heads the Fisheries Development Board and Nizar is former Perak menteri besar.

The five were among the party’s most recognisable faces during PH’s 14th general election campaign.

Their losses sparked speculation that more big names could fail to make it to the central committee.

Sany, however, disputed this, saying that members wanted these personalities to play larger roles.

“Faiz and Nizar, for instance, lost at division level but made it into the state committees.

“It means that members want these individuals to spend their time effectively as leaders and government officials, and let other people take care of the divisions. 

“It just goes to show how mature Amanah members are.” – November 30, 2019.