Contestants gear up for UMNO elections

Contestants gear up for UMNO elections

By David Chew

SINGAPORE (JP): The triennial elections of the United Malays
National Organization (UMNO), the leader of Malaysia's ruling
National Front (NF) multi-party coalition government, may not be
due until October. But prospective candidates have already
started preparations for the expected big fight, through their
frequent visits to UMNO's hundreds of divisions nationwide to
drum up support.

Up for grabs will be the positions of the three vice-
presidents, UMNO Youth president, WANITA (Women's Wing) president
and 25 Supreme Council members.

But not the plum post of presidency and deputy presidency in
the party power hierarchy. A special UMNO general assembly
convened last November had decided that the incumbents, Dr.
Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim, who are also prime minister
and deputy prime minister of Malaysia respectively, will keep
their positions at least for the next three years from 1996 to
1999.

The assembly's 1,886 delegates had unanimously agreed on the
no-contest move after Dr. Mahathir repeated his earlier warnings
that contest for the two top positions, especially the
presidency, would split the party right down the middle.

He cited the example of the closely-fought 1987 UMNO
presidential polls when former Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh
Hamzah failed to topple him amidst allegations of vote-buying and
money politics, and had to leave the party eventually.

Dr. Mahathir, after this bitter experience, had advised
aspiring leaders not to challenge incumbents even though they
might disagree with their style of leadership. They should
instead be patient because the incumbents must eventually hand
over power to them. This was the only way to ensure the
continuity of stable leadership in UMNO, he stressed.

It was under such conditions that Dr. Mahathir indicated he
would hand over power to Anwar. In turn, Anwar publicly pledged
that he would wait his turn to take over from Dr. Mahathir even
though his leadership style might be different.

But top UMNO leaders did not want the no-contest ruling for the
presidency and deputy presidency to be interpreted by the party's
rank and file as a setback for democracy, since divergent views in a
broad-based party was inevitable.

They have therefore sanctioned contests for the other posts,
but advised overzealous candidates against extensive vote buying in
their attempts to win at all costs.

Predictably the attention of UMNO politics has now shifted to
the contests for the three vice-presidencies, the third highest
rung of leadership in the party power hierarchy. One of the three
vice-presidents will be in line to move up to the Deputy UMNO
presidency when Anwar takes over from Mahathir as party
president.

UMNO leaders have maintained that no matter how fierce the
contests for the vice-presidencies turn out to be, they will not
split the party into two halves like in the case of the
presidency and deputy presidency. They believe that unity of the
top leadership can heal divisive tendencies among the rank and
file coalescing among relatively lesser leaders.

The three incumbent vice-presidents -- Education Minister
Najib Tun Razak, Youth and Sports Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and
Selangor Mentri Besar Muhammad Taib -- will defend their
positions against three challengers -- Foreign Minister Abdullah
Badawi, Defense Minister Syed Hamid Albar and Perak Mentri Besar,
Ramli Ngah Talib -- in October.

Of the three incumbents Najib is likely to poll the highest
number of votes, according to observers. As education minister,
he has been given the important task of overseeing Malaysia's
move to be a regional center of higher education. And he appears
to be doing his job well.

But this can be offset by the recent textbooks scandal
concerning some schools which are under the purview of his ministry.
Najib's opponents will no doubt highlight the scandals to tarnish
him.

Muhyiddin, the former Mentri Besar of Johor, polled the highest
number of votes in the last UMNO elections in 1993. But since his
transfer to the relatively junior Youth & Sports Ministry last
year, Muhyiddin's support has been slipping. Observers attribute
this to the very little patronage in his new ministry which deals
with delinquents and drug addicts.

However, Muhyiddin can still redeem himself -- if he can
clean up the mess in Malaysian sports which the prime minister
lamented recently. Its latest manifestation was a contingent
which failed miserably to win the targeted number of gold medals
at the Southeast Asian Games last year in Chiang Mai, Thailand,
despite all the training and incentives it received.

Badawi, who lost his incumbency as a vice-president in the 1993
UMNO elections, is making a comeback, relying on his high profile
as foreign minister. But observers note his lack of grassroots
support which could work against him even though he reportedly
had Mahathir's endorsement.

The other three candidates -- Hamid, Taib and Ramli -- are
quietly building up their support base with the elections still a
few months away. They are capable of springing a few surprises.

The incumbent UMNO Youth and WANITA presidents -- Rahim
Thamby Chik and Rafidah Aziz -- are likely to retain their
positions although they have yet to announce their intention of
defense.

With the corruption and sex scandal charges against him
dropped, Rahim enters the electoral fray brimming with
confidence. Rafidah, who is in Mahathir's good books, has been
actively promoting Malaysia as an investment haven overseas in
her capacity as International Trade and Industry Ministry.

The UMNO triennial election has always been monitored with
greater interest than the general elections in Malaysia by
observers, for the simple reason that its outcome can hold pundits
in suspense while that of the general election is easily predictable
by an NF victory.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Singapore.