A battle royale may be brewing in Wanita Umno after deputy chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil won a total of 32 nominations for the wing’s topmost post - just seven short of the minimum needed to stand against incumbent chief Rafidah Aziz.
Although the two women have agreed not to challenge each other and both have already qualified for the No 1 and No 2 posts they respectively hold - many Wanita leaders want Rafidah to step down in favour of Shahrizat earlier than the agreed power transition time-line of June 2009.“Shahrizat is the cautious type,” said a party watcher. “She won’t jump the gun or shoot off her mouth. She will wait and see, calculate and recalculate before she decides.”
Yet others in the wing believe the younger woman may have little choice but to accede to the groundswell of support to take on Rafidah for the topmost post.
If she does, then Kuala Kangsar Wanita head Kamilia Ibrahim is in line to contest the No 2 spot. Kamilia currently has 24 nominations versus the minimum of 29 needed.
Muhyiddin a step away from No 2 post
Meanwhile, nominations for Umno deputy presidential aspirant Muhyiddin Yassin rose to 38, just one short of the minimum required to stand for party election currently slated for March next year.
The 61-year old Muhyiddin was in the news lately for suggesting that party polls be shifted back to December. The International Trade and Industry Minister left his challengers, former Selangor menteri besar Muhd Muhd Taib and Malacca chief minister Mohd Ali Rustam far behind at four and three nominations respectively.
Outgoing deputy president Najib Abdul Razak, who is eyeing the topmost post due to be vacated by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, raised his tally to 44 nominations. While he needs another 14 to qualify for election, he is nevertheless widely tipped to romp home unchallenged.
In the Youth race, nominations continued to ring in for 44-year old Mukhriz Mahathir, the son of the outspoken ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Despite having already secured the minimum needed for election, Mukhriz continued to build his lead over Khairy Jamaluddin, the fiery outgoing Youth deputy chief, and former Selangor chief minister Dr Mohd Khir Toyo.
As of midnight last night, Mukhriz had 56 nominations, versus Khairy’s 29 and Khir Toyo’s 24 nominations.
The chase for the party’s three vice presidencies also intensified, with Sabah Umno deputy chief Shafie Apdal and former Youth chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi making the cut with 26 and 22 nominations respectively.
Frontrunner Hishammuddin Hussein, the son of third prime minister Hussein Onn, extended his lead to 39 nominations.
For Puteri Umno - the women’s youth wing - outgoing information chief Shahaniza Shamsuddin increased her lead to 42 nominations over nearest rival Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin, who secured 36.
Third-placed is Puteri exco member Ismailina Ismail with 18 nominations - malaysiakini
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