UMNO secretary general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan announced that he will not run for the vice president post of his party in this election and instead will run for member of the supreme working council (MKT) and head of UMNO Pontian Division instead.The Pontian MP said the decision was made because he did not want to split the vote since Johor already had three candidates for the position of UMNO vice president.The three UMNO vice president candidates from Johor are Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Legal and Institutional Reform Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said and Johor chief minister who is also a Simpang Renggam MP Datuk Seri Hasni Mohamad.
“In terms of qualifications and experience, I have been in UMNO for a long time and have held the position of head of UMNO Information and have visited all 191 UMNO divisions throughout the country.“However, I don’t need to be another vice president candidate from Johor. When there are too many candidates it will split the vote,” he said at the UMNO Hall on Saturday (Feb 25) night.“The representatives will see who is the representative from the state they want to elect. Those outside will also wonder why there are so many while other states only send one candidate.“So far, eight candidates have volunteered to run for the position of UMNO vice president, of which three candidates are from Johor. The rest are from Kedah, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid; Pahang (Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail); Perak (Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani); Pulau Pinang (Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican) and Perak (Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir),” he said.On the other hand, UMNO election committee chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Samad said up until yesterday, 270 candidates had submitted papers to contest supreme council, Wanita, Youth and Puteri posts.Sharir added that a total of 230 candidates were new faces and the UMNO Youth had the newest faces, with 92 candidates vying for positions.He said that of the 74 candidates vying for a seat on the supreme council, 55 were new faces.Meanwhile, UMNO vice president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin stated that the 2023 UMNO election is a process to rebuild the party and not to promote personal glory or exalt individuals.The election that is slated for next month, according to Khaled, who will be defending his position, is a procedure to find notable leaders who can help the party face numerous difficulties in the future.“UMNO needs a team that can revive and rehabilitate the party. We are aware that UMNO’s current status is not like what it was before, therefore we must emphasise on laying down the correct fundamentals and the right principles to revive UMNO.“We need a team that can collectively engage in the rehabilitation and revival of the party because it is like a process in a family. So, the winner will be Umno and not any individual,” said Khaled who is also the Johor UMNO liaison committee chairman. — Feb 26, 2023
