Umno polls: Official winners for posts in party's wings include Zahid, Najib's daughters

PETALING JAYA: Official winners of party polls for Umno's wings include the daughters of party president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Nurul Hidayah Ahmad Zahid and Nooryana Najwa Najib were elected into the Wanita and Puteri Umno executive councils, respectively.

Meanwhile, Najib's son Mohd Nazifuddin Najib, who had vied for the Umno deputy Youth chief post, failed in his bid.

The official results for the Umno wing elections, which were announced on Monday (March 13) by Umno election committee chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad, saw Merlimau assemblyman Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh triumph with a comfortable win as the new Umno Youth chief.

Mohd Hairi Mad Shah won the deputy Youth chief post, beating three other rivals including Najib's son.

"As we were aware, the Youth chief post was finalised quite early on with Akmal's win of 122 votes while for Mohd Hairi, he pulled 87 votes, narrowly beating his closest rival Ikmal Hazlan by three votes.

"Mohd Hairi's win was only determined at noon today (March 13) after results from several divisions were received," Shahrir told reporters in a press conference on Monday (March 13).

He also announced that Puteri Umno’s outgoing vice-chief Datuk Nurul Amal Mohd Fauzi had clinched the Puteri chief spot while Siti Sokhleha Nordin won the vice-chief post.

Meanwhile, incumbent Wanita chief Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad successfully defended her position after polling 112 votes, crushing her predecessor Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil's attempt at a comeback.

Norliza Abdul Rahim also defended her position as Wanita vice-chief after securing 123 votes.

Shahrir said the official results of the elections, which took place on Saturday (March 11), had to be announced late as several divisions were late to submit their results.

The Umno elections are being held from Feb 1 to March 18, with the branch-level elections being held from Feb 1 to 26, followed by the elections for the Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings at the national level on March 11.

The Umno divisional delegates’ meetings and committee elections, as well as contests for seats in the Umno supreme council, would be held simultaneously nationwide on March 18.