However, Mohamad, who is popularly known as Tok Mat, said that the position of party president and other positions should not be contested at the next party polls as it may cause a rift within the party.

“If possible, at this stage where we are still recovering from our losses (in the general election), the posts should be uncontested,” he told reporters after the opening of the Wanita, Pemuda and Puteri congress at the party’s general assembly.

The Rembau MP said that Umno has changed from previous years as anyone who was proposed and seconded for a specific position could contest the party elections.

Top 2 posts should not be contested

At the same time, a group of 140 Umno division chiefs said that the party’s president and deputy president posts should not be contested.

The division chiefs said that the party needs to be strengthened as it faces the state elections, and they hope that party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will consider their requests.

Zahid has never allowed party election matters to be discussed in the Supreme Council meeting as he wants to hear views from the grassroots.

“As division chiefs, we represent the grassroots. So when 140 are calling for the two posts to not be contested, we hope that the president will consider our requests,” Wangsa Maju Umno division chief Mohd Shafei Abdullah told reporters after a closed door meeting with other Umno division chiefs at the Royale Chulan hotel.

The Umno general assembly will be held till Saturday at the party’s headquarters at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur.

There is intense speculation that Zahid and his deputy will be challenged by Umno leaders who are not members of the unity government.

Some Zahid loyalists have warned that a contest for the top posts will tear the party apart.