KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Candidates in the Umno polls already have an indication how they will perform based on responses received in their introduction rounds conducted by the respective state Umno liaison committees.
Despite some delegates not being in attendance, the cheering and clapping when the candidates’ names were called are seen as a sign of their popularity.
So far, only the one in Ipoh on Friday saw a good turnout, while in Selangor and Federal Territory, only 70 per cent attended.
The strict election guidelines have the candidates scrambling for ideas on how to reach out to the 150,000-odd delegates.
The party has managed to reduce money politics to some extent with the wide-based voting system, but there are still claims that money is being distributed — though not directly — as expenditure for division or branch chiefs to meet delegates.
Of course, this expenditure then trickles down to delegates in the form of cash, for petrol and food.
The introduction sessions have seen incumbent vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi being the most popular based on cheers and claps he received.
Second is Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, who many view as an “affectionate man”, much like what Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was as a young MP and Umno leader.
Delegates are exposed to many things, sometimes even the personal lives of those contesting. Even scandals which escape the media are well known among the delegates.
When it was just some 2,500-odd delegates before, such “skeletons” were easily covered up and put aside but now, with some 150,000-odd delegates, this is highly impossible.
