UMNO Incumbent VP's Retain their positions.

Incumbents retain their veep posts

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir failed in his bid to become Umno vice-president when the party grassroots voted back its three incumbents to retain the status quo in the party’s second echelon.

Despite earlier uncertainties over how the 146,500 delegates would vote, the results of polling yesterday indicated their overall preference for a tried and tested line-up of leaders.

Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal handily retained their vice-president’s posts while Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein narrowly won the third spot after a tight race with Mukhriz.

As expected, Dr Ahmad Zahid emerged first with 183 electoral college votes from the 191 divisions as at 1am. Shafie, who some had predicted would perform poorly, was a close second with 172 ballots.

Hishammuddin received 99 votes and Mukhriz 90.

However, Mukhriz won more of the popular votes, garnering 54,020 votes, compared to Hishammuddin’s 53,529.

The other two contenders, Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad and Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, failed to make an impact, trailing with seven each.

Dr Ahmad Zahid, in a statement, said: “I am thankful for the trust given to me to continue my duties in helping the party president and deputy president.”

Shafie said he was humbled by the strong support from the delegates, adding that Umno should move on to help the president and deputy president meet the challenges ahead.

“Whatever the outcome of the elections, it is important that we close ranks so Umno will emerge stronger than before,” he said.

In the election for the 25 supreme council seats, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed topped the list, with 78 votes.

With the party polls over, Mustapa said, Umno must shift its focus to the Sungai Limau by-election caused by the death of former Kedah Mentri Besar Tan Sri Azizan Abdul Razak.

“We should begin to strategise for the 14th general election and restore support from urban and younger voters,” he added.

Other ministers who made it to the supreme council include Agriculture and Agro-based Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khor Baharom, Information, Communi-cation and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim and Dom­estic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Hasan Malek.

Two women are also among the top 25. They are Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said and Datuk Rosnah Rashid Shirlin.

Delegates also retained many of their long-serving division chiefs, including Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (Gua Musang), Tan Sri Shahrir Samad (Johor Baru) and Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (Pasir Salak).

THESTAR