Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has failed in his bid to become Umno Kubang Pasu's delegate to the party general assembly in November.

He polled 227 out of 472 votes and came in 9th among the 15 candidates vying to be part of the seven divisional delegates (G7).

His son Mukhriz made the cut by polling 289 votes which was the 5th highest in the number of votes.

The results were announced at 5.05pm by Umno Alor Star chief Ahmad Bashah Hanifah who was coordinating the delegates poll.

The other six elected delegates are Ahmad Hamid (317), Samsudin Ahmad (311), Mohd Fadzli Abdul Halim (296), Shuib Din (293), Zulkifli Yaakob (286) and Manaf Kecik (270).

Mahathir was seen leaving the hall where the divisional annual meet was held long before the final tally at about 3.30pm.

He was 44 votes short of winning his smallest political contest in decades amidst claims that the anti-Mahathir faction campaigned fiercely to the extent of using government machineries to ensure that the former Kubang Pasu MP was not elected.

This is possibly his first electoral defeat in almost 30 years and ironically it is here in Kubang Pasu - a constitutency in which he had been the undisputed leader for three decades - where he faced a humiliating rejection.

Mahathir's intention wrong

Shortly after the results were announced, Mahathir's handpicked successor as Umno Kubang Pasu chief, Mohd Johari Baharum, declared that the division had rejected the former premier's wishes to address the Umno general assembly.

"It was the decision of the (branch) delegates," Johari told reporters.

Johari, who is also deputy internal security minister, described Mahathir's desire to contest as a divisional delegate as "very wrong" and thus must accept that as fact.

He denied accusations that he had urged delegates not to vote for Mahathir, adding that the defeat came as no surprise since only 16 nominations were received by the former Umno president.

The veteran politician said Umno Kubang Pasu now hopes that Mahathir and his hand-picked successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as prime minister would discuss and resolve their differences.

A 'phenomenon'

Meanwhile, Mukhriz attributed his father's defeat to the tremendous effort made by outsiders.

"There is no longer any hotel room to be rented in Kubang Pasu or Alor Star as they have been filled to full capacity.

"The result is an example of a G7 contest that was executed so well by the BN machinery," he said when met at his family home in Titi Gajah.

He described the contest as a 'phenomenon' and it was a stark contrast when compared to the same event last year, in which he was elected as a delegate without even having to campaign.

"The effort to ensure that Tun (Mahathir) loses was incredible!" exclaimed Mukhriz.

The Kubang Pasu division is sending 13 delegates to the Umno general assembly this November.

While seven of them - dubbed as G7 - are elected, the rest (G6) will attend by virtue of their posts as division chief, deputy chief, vice-chief, Wanita chief, Youth chief and Puteri chief.

Mahathir can still attend the assembly as former party leader but he will not be accorded the right to speak.

The former prime minister has been on the warpath against Abdullah, his handpicked successor over the past few months over unanswered questions linked to government decisions and projects.

He had time and again demanded the right to speak to Umno members to explain his grouses.

Mahathir will leave for a 10-day tour of the Middle East beginning Monday, said his aide.