PUTRAJAYA, Sept 19 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced his bid to defend his post as Umno deputy president today, putting to rest months of speculation that he may challenge to lead the party.
According to Muhyiddin, he still feels capable of handling the responsibility of being the number two in Umno and the Cabinet.
“If I were given the trust once again ... I will help the leadership of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself,” Muhyiddin (picture) told reporters in his official residence Seri Satria here.
“I would like to state my support for Najib to defend his post ... I will myself nominate Najib this September 21.”
Muhyiddin’s announcement today ended speculation from party observers that the deputy prime minister might launch an unprecedented bid for the top post against president Najib.
Flanked by division chiefs Datuk Raja Nong Chik from Lembah Pantai and Datuk Seri Syed Ali Alhabshee from Cheras, Muhyiddin today expressed hopes there would be no surprises in the party’s internal polls.
Muhyiddin’s announcement follows Najib’s earlier, in which the latter revealed his intention to defend the top post in the party.
Separately, Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir also announced his decision to gun for a vice-presidency spot, while Akramsyah Sanusi, the son of former Umno secretary-general Tan Sri Sanusi Junid, will challenge incumbent Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.
In the May polls, Barisan Nasional (BN) not only failed to recapture its coveted parliamentary supermajority but also lost further ground to Pakatan Rakyat (PR), when it took 133 seats to the opposition pact’s 89.
Despite the poorer performance, Najib’s contemporaries have agreed to leave the party’s top two positions uncontested in the election this year, in order to preserve stability in Umno.
In July, former New Straits Times group editor-in-chief Datuk A. Kadir Jasin had appeared to endorse Muhyiddin to challenge Najib’s post, as he compared the performance of the Umno president in the May polls with predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
According to him, Muhyiddin must make the difficult decision to challenge for the top spot in the interest of the party’s future, and to bolster its struggle for the Malays, Islam and the nation.
A total of 146,500 Umno members will cast their votes for the top leadership of the party, adopting the “electoral college” system which merges the election systems from the United States and the United Kingdom.
Nominations for the Umno supreme council elections will be held on September 28 and voting on October 19.
Nominations for the Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings will be held on September 21, with theirs to be chosen during their respective meetings on October 12.
