PETALING JAYA: Former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has joined calls for the posts of Umno president and deputy president to be contested in the upcoming party elections.
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Taking to Instagram today, Khairy hit out at a group of Umno leaders claiming to represent 140 divisions, who called for the top two posts not to be contested.
“Stop this madness. I think the president (Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) is a fighter who does not fear taking on challengers (for the Umno presidency).
“Make room for contests. Don’t kill off democracy in Umno,” he said.
The Umno Supreme Council has yet to decide whether the two top posts should be contested in the party elections, which must be held before May 19, or within six months of the conclusion of the general election.
Khairy was among those within the party who had called on Zahid to resign as the president following Barisan Nasional’s disastrous outing in GE15.
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He had also vied for the Umno presidency in 2018 after BN fell from power, but was defeated by Zahid.
Yesterday, a group of Umno divisional leaders urged Zahid not to allow any contests for the top two posts, saying the party needed to be strengthened in view of the coming state elections in six states.
The group’s spokesman, Wangsa Maju Umno chief Shafei Abdullah, claimed they represented 140 division chiefs. However, the number of those at the press conference seemed much lower than that.
On Tuesday, Khairy acknowledged there were fears that a change in Umno’s leadership could lead to the party withdrawing support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, resulting in political instability.
However, he said Umno will continue supporting the Anwar-led unity government “if I or my allies” become the party’s president.-FMT