Announce intention to contest top Umno posts, says Isham Jalil

KUALA LUMPUR: Those who want to contest Umno's top two positions must announce it immediately, says party information chief Datuk Isham Jalil.

He said that Umno is open to any member contesting the president, deputy president or three vice president positions.

“We’re not stopping anyone from contesting the positions. We also would like to deny allegations that we bar members from challenging the president," said Isham.

“We believe this narrative was to spark anger among the members toward the leadership,” he told reporters at a press conference at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur here on Thursday (Jan 12).

He added that 140 Umno divisions had agreed that the top two positions should not be contested to ensure the party's stability

“The initiative was based on the motion brought by the division chiefs to avoid chaos within the party as it just participated in the unity government. I think the administration is still fragile,” he said.

He also denied any claims that there would be a proposal to amend the party’s constitution to ensure that the president and deputy president's positions remain uncontested.

Isham was responding to Khairy Jamaluddin’s statement that said Umno was stopping its members from contesting the positions, calling the move “madness”.