At last month's meeting of the Umno supreme council, ex-deputy Youth chief Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz made an astounding proposal - that Hishammuddin Hussein Onn be returned unopposed as Youth chief and Khairy Jamaluddin (the premier's son-in-law) be elected unopposed as deputy.

Hishammuddin ( left) had earlier opted out to contest one of the three vice-presidential slots, but is not allowed to. Khairy ( right) is a nominated Umno Youth supreme council member but with no visible political links apart from who he is.

As quickly, Nazri's proposal was seconded by council members Zahid Hamidi and Shafie Apdal.

Embarrassment over this move was clear at the meeting, even if acting Umno president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi looked on with a cherubic smile. There was little or no discussion. Acting deputy president Najib Abdul Razak summarised the proceedings.

There was no vote, nor dissenting voices. In the culture that pervades now, that was an unanimous decision. Yet it is not announced. Nazri alluded to it in an interview with a local newspaper, but that is not the same thing.

It raises pertinent questions. Why should the Umno top posts be unchallenged? In Umno, a candidate must be nominated by 30 percent and 15 percent of divisions to be in the race for the two top posts.

That is hurdle enough. No more than three candidates (for the president's post) and six (for the deputy president's)

can be nominated by divisions, but in practice it is no more than two each.

But the rifts within Umno are so wide and diverse, and central control of the ground so slack, that in fractious divisional meetings - and we are nowhere near it - it is possible for no one to qualify. This was not considered when the rule was imposed: what mattered was that the president must be elected at any cost.

Mythical unity

But that meeting laid the groundwork for then secretary-general Khalil Yaakob to insist that the June 6 Umno supreme council should agree on a similar plan for Abdullah and Najib to be confirmed in their posts without contest. It has gone further.

All state liaison committees have been informed by Umno headquarters that nominations for the two must be total; no one else must be nominated.

The acclaimed Umno unity is a myth. Abdullah struggles to keep the party together. The warlords are on the rampage. Even Puteri Umno now insists on contest for all positions, including the top two.

Umno Youth however has said nothing. That the Hishammuddin-Khairy line-up is orchestrated is clear enough.

Before the supreme council decision, four Umno Youth leaders - Azimi Daim, Norza Zakaria, Ikmal Hashim Abdul Aziz, A Hamid Nazahar - were forced to back out, with a little help from loaded questions asked of them by New Straits Times reporters. It is Khairy who is the more important in this contest.

The reasoning is simple: Hishammuddin would be otherwise occupied with his ministerial duties. So Khairy would be effectively in charge. There are persistent rumours that his wife Nori (who is Abdullah's daughter) will vie for a position in Puteri Umno.

Incumbent Puteri chief Azalina Othman, an Abdullah family friend, is expected to contest a senior position in Umno Wanita and if all goes to plan, to become de facto head of the women's wing.

These are not the only moves planned. Abdullah wants Kelantan Umno chief Mustapha Mohamed ( photo ) to become the first vice-president during the Sept 23 party election. If he succeeds, he will be made First Finance Minister in the cabinet reshuffle afterwards and positioned to challenge Najib three years down the road.

Abdullah and Najib play games. Each is at pains to strip and trip the other, but it is done in the usual Malay way: using public cordiality and inner, private enmity. Abdullah's boys privately complain that this is all Najib's ploy.

Both have agreed that their posts should not be challenged and they should be allowed a free ride. Why they had to go to this extent, annoying and upsetting the traditional Umno ground, is inexplicable. They did not see the writing on the wall: that Abdullah on succeeding Dr Mahathir Mohamad, took over the office, not his iron-fisted power. And pays the price.

Inner anger

The two men need each other. But the ground is clouded by an inner anger, compounded by the inept and unwise move to prevent contest. One old Umno hand, watching these distasteful manouevres, said Umno gives incumbents, however tenuous, face that it would be difficult for a challenger.

But when the two men did not want to be challenged, and took steps to ensure this would not happen, it annoyed many. The inherent split became a fact, and today it is probable that both will be challenged in September.

It does not matter then if the challengers are defeated. That they could not insist on no-contest is proof that as Umno leaders they are flawed. That carries with it its own dangers: even if they win, they have lost.

Supreme council member Shahrir Abdul Samad ( photo ) understands this dilemma only too well. At a recent meeting with Abdullah, he asked him bluntly what his plans are: if he wants to be prime minister until September, for the duration of an Umno presidency or a full five-year term.

He got, I am told, a vague response. He is aligned to his cousin, Najib. But he is also the protege of former deputy Umno president Musa Hitam. He is also a shrewd political operator, arguably one of the most principled men in Umno politics. He has paid dearly for it. But he does not care. Abdullah was wrong to sideline him.

It is probably too late for Abdullah to change course. He must rise or fall by his actions since he has been made prime minister. In making it clear he wants to his office uncontested, by hook or by crook, he attracts a fight. Several are on the wings, waiting for the Umno division meetings next month. He and Najib realise it, and divert attention with irrelevant comments and fake crises. The reality is hard to ignore.

More Umno leaders than would have dared a month ago are ready to throw their hat in the ring. Abdullah has no option but to grit his way through. It is a case of damned if he does, damned if he does not. Which is a pity.