Puteri Umno recently held its first general meeting amid a lot of hoopla after two years of existence.

Despite the swirls of publicity, one question begs to be asked — what is Puteri Umno and why is Azalina Othman Said so important to Umno?

The extraordinary attention that Umno, and hence the mainstream media, have been giving her makes even Wanita Umno chief Rafidah Aziz and other women leaders since the party's inception in the 1950s look so pathetically insignificant.

The fledgling wing has yet to make clear what goals and contributions it will bring to Umno apart from helping to canvass for votes and tempt young Malay women into their fold.

Azalina's most memorable act to-date was her audacious gate-crash of a press conference held by Universiti Malaya vice-chancellor Dr Anuar Zaini Mohd Zain on the Dewan Tunku Canselor fire, to demand his resignation.

As the pro tem and now the newly-elected head of Puteri Umno, she has yet to say anything intelligent. All we have heard of her were her alleged lesbian affairs.

Has she said anything substantial? Has she done anything intelligent other than send some of the wing's members out to canvass for votes in the last few by-elections? What are the wing's plans to improve the lot of the party and its members?

What are Puteri Umno's plans on women's rights issues? What are their views on a host of other relevant issues of the day, for instance? Azalina has never written any essay on national politics or women's issues apart from appearing as a host for some pseudo-political discourse on television.

It is unfortunate that although Umno has opened its membership to non-Malay bumiputera, Puteri Umno, and for that matter, Pemuda Umno, is largely a Malay wing.

If I were Umno's president, I would ask Azalina to leave not only Puteri Umno, but Umno and national politics. Her presence in the national politics of Malaysia has brought down the level of political discourse that we once had. All the allegations that have been hurled against her is a burden to the party.

I am sure many Malaysians were surprised when she was elected to sit in the supreme council of Umno and appointed to lead Puteri Umno. This does not necessarily mean that she is good, but most likely, Umno is in short supply of women leaders!

I don't blame those former Puteri Umno exco members for going public against Azalina. They have every right to scrutinise the personal life and morality of their leader.

The fact that Azalina did not vehemently deny all the allegations does not reflect well on her and indicates that she has something to hide. Her statements on this issue are always obtuse and vague. This only helps to make accusers more persistent.

Unfortunately, all the allegations about her lesbianism have not come from the opposition, but from within Umno itself!

Had she been out of favour with the powers that be, or not an Umno leader but, say, PAS or other opposition parties, she will definitely be dragged to court. Even if she is not found guilty, the damage would have been done.