KUALA LUMPUR – Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi appears to have consolidated his position after a number of his purported backers secured top posts in the party’s wings.
This comes after Umno election committee chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad announced the official results of the internal party elections which took place on March 11.
A cursory reading of the list of people who made the executive councils of the wings shows that many are purportedly inclined with Zahid’s vision of the party.
Based on the official results, Datuk Noraini Ahmad – a known supporter of Zahid – defeated Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil to become the new Wanita head by garnering 112 votes.
For the Youth chief post, Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh – also an ally of Zahid – garnered 122 votes, beating Datuk Armand Azha Abu Hanifah, Mohd Shahar Abdullah, and Tuan Meor Hassan Mat Ali.
Armand Azha is the Subang Umno division chief and has served as a senator since 2021, while Shahar is the incumbent lawmaker for the Paya Besar constituency.
A relative newcomer in mainstream national politics, Datuk Nurul Amal Mohd Fauzi, had clinched the Puteri chief post by garnering 89 votes.
Speaking to the Vibes following the announcement, Shahrir said while there are many new faces in the Youth and Puteri wings, he believes there will continuation of past struggles enacted by their predecessors.
“They may seem (to be) new faces but they have been active within the party for quite some time, so there will be a continuity of past struggles established by the previous office holders,’’ he said briefly to The Vibes.
Another Umno source also confirmed that the majority of leaders in all three party wings leaned towards Zahid’s leadership.
This includes the party’s new Youth chief who was purportedly “endorsed” by his predecessor Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, while the new Puteri chief, Nurul Amal, is also touted to be part of the same camp.
Disciplinary action against member who uploaded Titiwangsa ruckus
Shahrir also said that the party is likely to take action against a party member who uploaded a video of a row during the Titiwangsa Umno Youth election.
The former Johor Baru MP said the member had possibly breached party rules by bringing a recording device into the ballot centre as well as uploading content that could be used against the party.
“We are looking into taking disciplinary action against this member. I wish to note that when an objection was made to the election the other day, we put a stop to it, yet the video still went up.
“Those who don’t understand the process might criticise the party based on just watching the video with no full context to the matter,’’ he said.
Despite the official announcement for the wings, votes from several divisions were suspended from the official results following several disciplinary issues and objections from party members.
This includes Kota Kinabalu and Tanah Merah, where votes from all party wings were suspended.
Umno also suspended the votes from the Kuala Kedah division’s Wanita wing as well as the Puteri wing for the Batuk Kawan division.
Similarly, for the Youth wing, the party leadership has decided to suspend voting in Semporna and Titiwangsa, especially after videos of an alleged altercation were uploaded on social media.
All the aforementioned divisions will have until tomorrow to file their objections.
However, votes from all respective divisions will not be tabulated in today’s official results.
Regardless, they still can vote for their divisional leadership as well the party’s three vice-president positions as well as supreme council members this coming March 18.
Some 164,000 members took part in Umno’s ongoing elections, with the party setting March 18 for its top leadership election.
Ballot counting, according to Shahrir, will take all day with unofficial results likely to be published after 6pm on March 18. – The Vibes, March 13, 2023
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