As the nomination period for the Umno party election comes close to its deadline, former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has confirmed that he will not defend his vice-president position.

He said this when contacted by Malaysiakini this afternoon.

“Yes,” Ismail replied in a text message when asked to confirm that he is not running for another term.

The Bera MP, however, did not want to comment on the reasons – adding he would issue a press statement soon.

Ismail Sabri became an Umno vice-president after he won the position in the 2018 Umno election. He bagged the highest number of votes compared to the other two – Mohamed Khaled Nordin and Mahdzir Khalid.

When Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi decided to go on leave later the same year, Ismail Sabri assumed the party’s deputy president duties, while incumbent Mohamad Hasan stepped up to take over as de facto Umno president.

The position also allowed Ismail Sabri to become Malaysia’s ninth prime minister in 2021.

He succeeded Muhyiddin Yassin, who was forced to step down on Aug 16, 2021, after 15 Umno MPs withdrew their support.

The 15 Umno lawmakers then backed Ismail Sabri to lead the country.

At that point in time, despite being Umno president and Bagan Datuk MP, Zahid was not seen as fit to assume the top executive office due to his court cases, while Mohamad was not a member of the Dewan Rakyat.

Umno is holding its internal polls for the vice-presidency, supreme council posts, and divisional committee posts on March 18, and the deadline for nominations had been set at 5pm today.

The party has three vice-president posts. So far, eight party leaders have submitted their nomination forms to run in the race, including two incumbents Khaled and Mahdzir.

Six others running for the posts are Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, BN secretary-general Zambry Abdul Kadir, former Johor menteri besar Hasni Mohammad, former housing and local government minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican, Titiwangsa MP Johari Ghani, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said.

The Umno general assembly last month adopted a no-contest resolution for the president and deputy president posts.  MKINI

Ahmad Maslan to challenge Hasni for Pontian Umno division chief’s post

PETALING JAYA: Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan confirmed today that he is vying for the Pontian Umno chief post, taking on incumbent Hasni Mohammad.

He also said that he will not contest for the Umno vice-president’s post as there were already three candidates from Johor gunning for it, Utusan Malaysia reported.

“If I join the race, there will be four of us contesting for the vice-presidency. In reality, if there are too many people from the same state, the chances of winning will be slim,” he said.

“The delegates will also question why there are so many candidates from Johor.”

Ahmad said he would be submitting his candidacy papers at the Pontian Umno headquarters this evening.

The three candidates from Johor are incumbent Khaled Nordin, law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said and Hasni.

The other candidates contesting for the vice-president’s post are Titiwangsa MP Johari Ghani, foreign minister Zambry Abdul Kadir, Pahang menteri besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, Supreme Council member Shamsul Anuar Nasarah, former housing and local government minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican and incumbent Mahdzir Khalid.

Nominations for the Umno elections close today.

The elections for the Wanita, Youth and Puteri leadership posts will be held on March 11, while division officials, vice-presidents and members of the Supreme Council will be elected on March 18.  FMT