Decision on whether top Umno posts will be contested yet to be made

PONTIAN - No decision has been made so far, whether the positions of the Umno president and deputy president will be contested or not, in the upcoming election.

Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said the supreme council has yet to make a decision over the matter.

However, he did not rule out the possibility that the matter might be decided at a special supreme council meeting that will be held before the Umno General Assembly (Pau) which will take place on Jan 12, next year.

"We are waiting for that (whether the positions of president and deputy president will be contested). There has been no decision on that as of today.

"But I don't know what will happen after this, because we still have time before Pau is held in January.

"Let's wait. In January, the Umno supreme council will have a monthly meeting as usual and we will have another special supreme council meeting which will traditionally be held the night before Pau.

"The special supreme council meeting this time will be held on the night of Jan 12 before the Pau is held the next day. That night, we will probably decide on the matter," he said.

Ahmad who is also Pontian MP said this at a press conference at the Pontian MP service centre, in Api-Api, here, on Monday.

On Sunday, Umno Youth Exco Datuk Muhamad Muqharabbin Mokhtarrudin was reported to have said that Umno will face a dark episode again if the party's president and deputy president positions were not contested.

Muhamad Muqharabbin said both positions should be contested in the party election scheduled to take place next year.

On Dec 9, Umno denied that there were discussions regarding the position of Umno president and deputy president not being contested in the upcoming party election.

Ahmad said the Umno supreme council meeting that took place on Dec 7 did not discuss on the matter.