The 54th Umno Annual General Assembly (AGM) which starts today, will see the last appearance of its president Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who will step down in October after leading the party and country for more than two decades.

During the meet, the outgoing premier will undoubtedly be showered with accolades. However, there is another issue which is threatening to steal the limelight: who will be incoming premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's deputy?

Delegates are expecting hints on the likely candidate as Abdullah has remained tightlipped about this since Mahathir announced his decision to step down at last year's party meet.

The best choice

Many feel that Najib Razak would be the best candidate. Not only did he win the party vice-presidency with the highest number of votes, he is also the preferred choice of Mahathir.

Despite this, Abdullah said he will only name his deputy when he assumes the premiership in October.

This reasoning, logical as it may seem, did not go down well with those aligned to Najib while certain quarters began to speculate that Abdullah may have someone else in mind.