Heat on Zahid and Hishammuddin to give way

(The Sun Daily) – The pressure is on acting Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to step down for new leadership to enable reform and recovery of the party.

The calls for change at the once-dominant party included proposals for former finance minister and party veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah for president.

There were also suggestions for Hishammuddin to move up and contest the top post.

One branch in Terengganu has pushed for this, The Malaysian Insight reported today.

Some want Razaleigh to team up with Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin to bring much-needed reforms to the 71-year-old party, it said.

According to the news portal, party insiders said Zahid and Hishammuddin will get the nod for the top two positions, and Khairy will be the clear choice for one of the three vice-presidents’ posts, with the likes of Datuk Seri Mahdzhir Khalid, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan trailing.

“Yes, the younger members may want Khairy to lead now, but for the time being, he needs the cover provided by Zahid and Hisham, so that he can expand his influence in Umno,” it quoted an unnamed party insider as saying.

“By the time the next party elections are held in three years, Khairy will be president.”

Meanwhile, Pulai chief Nur Jazlan Mohamed said his division will go for continuity, while the Tebrau division in Johor is proposing the Hishammuddin-Khairy tag team.

Khairy was at one time Hishammuddin’s deputy when the latter was Youth chief.

“This is our personal preference. We want Hishammuddin to consider contesting the post of Umno president in the upcoming elections,” Tebrau chief Maulizan Bujang told Utusan Malaysia recently.