WITH leaders aligned to Ahmad Zahid Hamidi being elected to Umno’s top posts, their task now shifts to regain Malay support in the coming state polls, said analysts and party grassroots.

They told The Malaysian Insight this would be the biggest challenge now for Zahid and Umno’s leadership.

Results of party elections have shown that Zahid’s loyalists have been returned to hold posts in the party, including most of the supreme council members and two of the three vice presidents. At Wanita and Youth wings and division levels, Zahid’s men had emerged victorious.

Ilham Center executive director Hisomuddin Bakar said the first test of this new team will be in the coming state elections where Umno/Barisan Nasional will work with Pakatan Harapan (PH).

“The new leadership team fulfills the wishes of the president. This team now bears the burden of restoring the dignity and trust of Umno members, and to regain Malay support.

“The current party leadership does not have to worry about where the party is heading. By being in the government, they need to take full advantage of the opportunity to gain the confidence of Malay voters.

“The main challenge now for Umno is to focus on the upcoming state elections. This is the first test. They also need to convince Umno voters to restore confidence in the party,” he said.

Hisomuddin said Umno leaders must now hit the ground fast to explain their part in the unity government.

“It is necessary to clarify this as from our observations, this weakens Umno at the grassroots level,” he said.

Umno elections yesterday showed party members throwing their support behind Zahid by voting in candidates aligned to him.

Leaders perceived to be in the “opposition” camp had been voted out.

Among those of note included former Johor Menteri Besar Hasni Mohammad who not only failed to win the vice president’s race but was also defeated in the Pontian division by Umno secretary general Ahmad Maslan.

Hasni, who is the Simpang Renggam MP, had held the Pontian division for 22 years. His fall was due to his support for Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister after GE15.

Hisomuddin said that the outcome of the Umno elections was also a relief for the unity government because Zahid now has no opposition within his party, making it easy for Umno to continue ties with PH.

Young leaders

Mazlan Ali from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) said that the election results also showed that Umno has a line-up of leaders who are ready to come to the fore.

“The victory of these candidates shows that they are progressive and future leaders. Among them, Khaled Nordin is seen as being a progressive. One day he may take leadership of Umno.

“There are young people in Umno leadership. This will pave the way for a better future for Umno,” he said.

Khaled who is also Johor Umno chief got the second most votes behind Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail for the vice president’s post. They are both known to be Zahid’s loyalists.

The third slot went to Johari Abdul Ghani, who is also the Federal Territories Umno chairman.

Mazlan said he was confident that it would be smooth sailing for Umno in the federal government after this election.

“It is certain that the victory of the pro-president candidates strengthens Umno’s direction with the unity government under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

“Now it is likely that the understanding at the federal level would be expanded to cover states as well, especially after the state polls,” he said.

Syed Mohd Syed Nasir, a former student and education leader of Umno Youth, said the challenge for Umno’s new leadership depends on their ability to regain Malay support which was moving towards Perikatan Nasional.

“This party election is set towards proving that there are changes at the leadership level with everyone being on the same page.

“The big challenge will come in the next general election, to see if the team can bring back the support of the Malays and make Umno the No. 1 party for the Malays,” he said.

The Umno member from the Simpang Renggam division said that the purging of rival groups will see improvements in the party.

“Improvements will be clearly visible three months from now because the groups that want change have been defeated.

“But this also places high expectations on the leaders who won the party polls,” he said.

What is certain, he said, is that Anwar’s administration will not be challenged by the new Umno leadership.

“The future of the government for the time being is seen to be strong with Umno’s continued support for the leadership of Anwar. The new leadership will not undermine the political stability of the unity government,” he added.

Real test at state polls

Former Umno Youth exco leader Bastien Onn said it is difficult to determine if the new leadership line-up shows that Umno is getting stronger.

He said the real test for Umno will be during the state elections which are expected to be held in the middle of the year.

“Perhaps the people are not interested in what is happening in the party. 

“The real test will be the state elections. It is difficult to predict because the president and deputy president did not contest,” he said.

The official results of the Umno elections showed that Shamsul Anuar Nasarah gained the most votes for the supreme council, with 178 votes out of 189 divisions.

Among the attention-grabbers for the supreme council positions included new face Tengku Zafrul Aziz who obtained 167 divisional votes.

He also won unopposed for the position of Kota Raja Umno division chief.

Umno information chief Isham Jalil was also elected to the supreme council when he managed to get 101 votes.

Prior to the party elections, Umno had passed a no contest resolution for the two two posts, which meant Zahid and Mohamad Hassan retained their posts without any challenge.

The party had sacked or suspended many of Zahid’s critics. – March 20, 2023.