The 1987 Umno crisis will rear its ugly head again if members continue to use the party as a stepping stone to secure ministerial positions, warned Kelantan Umno deputy chairperson Zaid Ibrahim.

"As long as party positions mean automatic ministerial positions, there will be fights," he said in a recent interview .

Zaid, who has expressed his desire to contest for the vice-president post in September's Umno polls, claimed that members vied for top positions in the party because they wanted a shot at becoming prime minister.

"That's why they want to go up and up... They all want to be prime minister," said the first-time MP for Kota Bahru.

Zaid has embarked on a hi-tech campaign strategy by producing a 30-minute VCD which showcases his speech as well as his reasons for wanting to contest.

Capable leaders

He said Umno members should elect leaders whom they believe are capable of leading the party and not necessarily the government.

"We are not questioning who the prime minister chooses to be his ministers. We accept that. It is the prerogative of the prime minister," added the lawyer who heads one of the biggest legal firms in the country.

As an example, Zaid cited the 1993 Umno elections which saw jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim challenging incumbent Ghafar Baba for the deputy president post.

"When Anwar wanted to challenge Ghafar, Umno divisions nominated Anwar, one after another. The argument then was that Anwar was more suitable as deputy prime minister, more educated, so on and so forth.

"But to me that was a separate issue, (former premier) Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) picked Anwar to be his deputy. That was his prerogative. (But) was Ghafar, who gave his life to the party, not qualified to be deputy president?.

"Yet we changed him (Ghafar). Why? Because we thought somebody else would be a better deputy prime minister. So what I am saying is that in future we should choose those capable of leading the party," he said.

Communist system

According to Zaid, Umno members must accept that party leaders should not have to be the same people who sit in the cabinet and vice-versa.

"Some people say, the Wanita and Umno Youth chiefs must be given a seat (in cabinet). This is like a communist system. We don't have to give the seats... the cabinet is for the best people that the prime minister wants to appoint," he said.

To overcome this, Zaid said a proper balance must be achieved between the number of Umno leaders in the government and the party.

He said the solution would be to separate the contest for party positions and the selection process for the prime minister.

To achieve this, he proposed that a caucus comprising of parliamentarians in the Lower House elect the prime minister.

Exclusive club

Zaid also stressed that Umno needed strong and outspoken leaders at the higher levels who do not hold government positions.

"When you are in power, you would not criticise yourself, you would not criticise your colleagues in the cabinet and you would not criticise the prime minister because your position in the government depended on him," he said.

In view of this, he said there was a need to broaden the composition of decision makers so that it would not be the same group of people in the government as well as in the party.

"The Umno supreme council for example has many appointees by the president. Most of them are ministers and menteris besar. It looks like an exclusive club," he added.

On his chances in the coming party elections, Zaid said his most difficult hurdle would be to secure the required number of nominations.

"It is going to be difficult for people like myself but I will try. I believe there are enough Umno division leaders who are brave and independent (to nominate me)," he said.

Vice-presidential candidates must obtain nominations from at least 10 percent of the 191 party divisions.