KUALA LUMPUR: The nomination quota to contest top posts in Umno should be abolished, as it is being abused to prevent members from nominating candidates, said former party president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He pointed out that when he was president, anyone was free to challenge him, and although at that time there was already the quota in place, “those days it was easy to get 60 divisions (nominations)”.
However, he added, when Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah wanted to challenge Umno president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2004, he only managed to get one nomination from his own division.
“(This is) because other divisions were told not to nominate him. There was no freedom. I think it’s about time they revised this provision because of the tendency of the people with the power to stifle any move to criticise or oppose them,” he said after launching the Perkim annual general meeting on Saturday.
Dr Mahathir, who is Perkim president, said there was nothing wrong with having a contest for the presidency in the upcoming December party election, adding that other Umno presidents including him were also previously challenged.
On who was likely to challenge Abdullah, Dr Mahathir said it could be Razaleigh (who had offered himself) or others.
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