WANITA Umno chief Noraini Ahmad has backed a growing chorus of calls for the party to skip elections for president and deputy president, as a rift opens within Umno about the process.

Noraini said party members should support the current leadership, and allow it to work towards strengthening the party and regain voter confidence.

“This is why it would be best that the president and deputy president’s posts are not contested,” she told Wanita Umno delegates in her address at the wing’s annual general assembly today.

The Parit Sulong lawmaker said the top two party members should allowed the space to strengthen and revive Umno.

“We should do this for the sake of the party’s political survival,” she said.

Today, former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin urged Umno to hold elections in the normal fashion.

“Stop this madness. (Umno president) Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is a fighter who does not fear taking on challengers.

“Make room for contests. Don’t kill off democracy in Umno,” he posted on Instagram.

Yesterday, Umno Wangsa Maju division chief Mohd Shafei Abdullah yesterday said that 140 Umno division chiefs were against any contest for top positions.

Moving forward, Noraini called for a purge of leaders who had soiled the party’s name.

“Yesterday, the president and deputy president said our defeat was caused by external and internal factors,” she said.

She noted that some members had damaged the party by opposing the majority, and opponents had leveraged this to expose divisions and say Umno was not fit to hold office. – January 12, 2023.