Leaders cement their positions

Akhramsyah’s candidature was seen as a last-minute thing. He is a big name in the youth NGO network, but he lacked the track record in Umno Youth.

Joceline Tan, The Star

BY sunset, the word going around was that Khairy Jamaluddin was on his way to a tsunami-style victory as the Umno Youth leader.

Unofficial results from the divisions indicated that Khairy passed the midway point shortly after maghrib. At that point none of his three opponents had yet to secure a single endorsement from any division.

Akhramsyah Sanusi, seen as the strongest among the challengers, could not even secure a single divisional endorsement from Kedah where his father was once the mentri besar.

Even the Langkawi division, where his father used to be a strongman, gave its vote to Khairy.

Khairy has finally arrived in a big way. The sweet taste of success this time around was in sharp contrast to his acrimonious victory four years ago.

He arrived at the PWTC with a small entourage shortly before 10pm. An Umno official could be heard congratulating him but he remained tight-lipped as he made his way up the escalator.

Suddenly, the escalator came to a halt. One of those behind him called out: “Even the escalator stopped for you.”

Unofficial results also placed incumbent Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil with 187 divisions giving her the vote. She had left her challengers Datuk Maznah Mazlan and Raihan Sulaiman far behind.

Sources said that Maznah had secured four endorsements – one from her own division Rompin and three more from Kuantan, Jerantut and Cheras.

Meanwhile, at the PWTC, the official results were being released at snail’s pace because of the strict vetting process by the Umno election committee.

The media had turned up in droves for the event, but waiting for official updates of the result was like waiting for little drops of water to fill up a big pail.

This is the first time that the party’s new election system is being put to the test and there were reportedly disputes in several divisions.

But the elections for the Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings had taken place far more smoothly than the election committee had dared hope for.

Maznah’s supporters had thought she would be able to secure support from at least 45 divisions but they were over-optimistic.

The experience of Maznah and Raihan shows that one cannot wake up one fine morning, decide to run for a top post in Umno and expect to do well. It does not work like that. Apart from having a track record, one needs to have the network, do the groundwork, set up a campaign team.

Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said made the same mistake. She had no Wanita network or experience and barely a month after jumping in, she realised she was out of her depths and got out before she could lose more face.

Basically the challengers to Shahrizat’s leadership took the women’s loyalty and expectations of leadership for granted.

Raihan’s fate was not surprising. She had failed to get even one nomination in a previous attempt for the Puteri Umno leadership and no one expected her to make progress in the Wanita wing.

Raihan’s story of living up to the legacy of her late father Sulaiman Palestine was touching during her Puteri days, but it is starting to stale.

If she is serious about being somebody in Wanita, she will need to put in some real contribution rather than ride on her father’s name every time there is an election.

Otherwise, she will be known as a publicity seeker rather than a serious politician.

The same could be said of the contest for the Youth leadership.

Akhramsyah’s candidature was seen as a last-minute thing. He is a big name in the youth NGO network, but he lacked the track record in Umno Youth.

He could have utilised the connection if he had been serious about the post.

But not long after he jumped in, it was evident that he was not as serious about winning as he should be. It is a good thing he has a famous father in Tan Sri Sanusi Junid or else no one would remember his name one year down the road.

Some claimed he was there just to kacau daun or stir up things so that Khairy does not win unopposed or has it too easy. If that was true, it was all in vain.

In the Puteri Umno wing, Mas Ermieyati Samsudin is on her way to becoming the new chief. She had a formidable campaign machinery that was hooked up to the popularity of her mentor Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam.

Her campaign team had a real presence everywhere they went and they overwhelmed the contender Jamilah Hanim Othman.

An SMS that Shahrizat sent to all her ladies the day before the election demonstrates her political style and also helps explain her sweeping victory.

In it, she said she had just returned from a Quran reading programme in her Kepong division.

She had dropped by her mother’s house to ask her to pray for God to shine His grace on the ladies and for a smooth election. She said she was planning to spend the hours after maghrib in the kitchen to do some cooking.

She signed off by sending them her love.