In junior Umno polls, hints of country’s future?
Besides Khairy and Akhramsyah, three other contenders — Syed Rosli Syed Harman, Irwan Ambak Khalid Izhar, and Abd Karim Ali — are also in the running to head Umno Youth.
Syed Jaymal Zahiid, The Malay Mail
A shock defeat for Khairy would not only be seen as the party snubbing the progressive and centrist wave for which he is the poster boy, but would effectively derail the youth and sports minister’s purported ambitions of one day helming the country.
It could also see Umno further embrace calls for it to focus efforts on the Malays, to the detriment of already testy ties with the other communities in the country.
For Wanita Umno, the winner could have even more important repercussions.
Although often in the background of events, the women in the signature red headscarves are considered the backbone of the party and the foundation of its formidable election machinery.
In this year’s contest, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil faces two challengers, including a viable contender in the form of former deputy minister Datuk Maznah Mazlan.
“In the case of Shahrizat, although support is strong, there were certain problems that confronted Wanita, and since the ones voting now are the grassroots, it was the grassroots that had the most problem,” associate professor Shaharuddin Baddarudin from Mara Technology University (UiTM) told The Malay Mail Online.
Shahrizat is said to remain popular with the delegates, but her family’s link to the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal remains the proverbial monkey on her back. Although the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) cleared her of any wrongdoing in the award of the RM250 million contract to the firm operated by her family, her husband Datuk Seri Mohamed Salleh Ismail was charged with criminal breach of trust and violating the Companies Act over RM49 million in federal funds from the project.
