Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and Supreme Council member Bung Mokhtar Radin said it was time for Umno to make changes and let anyone contest a post of his own choosing.
His stand comes in contrast to a party policy speech in December when he proposed that the posts of party president and deputy president be uncontested in the Umno elections. He had then said that the Youth wing gave its fullest support to Najib Razak and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to lead the party into the general election.
However, Barisan Nasional were voted out of office this month, but Khairy was among the few survivors, retaining his Rembau parliamentary seat.
He was quoted by Malay Mail today as saying that no Umno post should be considered sacred and that the past practice of having no contests against party leaders was among the reasons Umno had fared badly, winning only 54 parliamentary seats compared to 88 in 2013.
“It looked like we don’t provide the democratic space for our members. We’d better stop this nonsense of no-contest business,” he was quoted as saying. “I’m happy that people support me but any positions for myself or anyone else must be contested.”
Bung Mokhtar, who is Kinabatangan MP for the fifth consecutive term, also believed the practice should be dropped.
“I think Umno should change because everyone on the ground has changed. So why should we stop anyone from contesting any posts?” he was quoted as saying.
He disagreed with a proposal that Ahmad Zahid Hamidi be elected unopposed to head the party, with Hishammuddin Hussein and Khairy as deputy president and vice-president respectively.