Umno Risks Sabotage If Party Polls Unclean Says Analyst

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Umno is holding its elections for the Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings on March 11 and for Supreme Council seats on March 18.PETALING JAYA: A political scientist says younger members of Umno may rebel and sabotage the party if they think that they do not have a fair chance of contesting party positions.
Wong Chin Huat of Sunway University said disgruntled members would turn against party leaders, even at the expense of the party. They would rather see Umno destroyed, he said.
They might join Bersatu or support Perikatan Nasional all the way. The change of allegiance would signal further erosion of Malay voter support and could cause Pakatan Harapan to lose power in one of the three states controlled by the coalition.
Defeats in the coming state assembly elections could subsequently weaken Anwar Ibrahim’s coalition government and even end it prematurely, Wong said.
On Thursday, an Umno source told FMT that more party members were risking suspension as the battle for the Umno Youth chief’s position shapes up.
Members in the party’s youth wing aligned to current chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and those who support his former deputy Shahril Hamdan, who was recently suspended for six years, are already said to be waging battle in an attempt to wrest the post.
Another political analyst, Jeniri Amir, a fellow of the Council of Professors, said young voters may perceive Umno as a party not open to reforms if new leaders could be prevented from emerging using unfair and dirty tactics.
“With new leaders, there would have been new inputs and more concrete solutions to move Umno forward,” he said. “In order to produce new leaders, it has to start from the bottom where they can get the necessary training and exposure needed.”
After facing backlash over the no-contest for the Top 2 positions in the party, Jeniri also said it is only right that the contest for other positions in Umno’s lower hierarchy be conducted as cleanly and fairly as possible.
Nominations for the Umno party elections started on Feb 13 and will continue until Feb 26. The election for Wanita Umno , Youth and Puteri will be held on March 11, while division officials and members of the Supreme Council will be elected on March 18. - FMT

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