Don't expect to see new and young faces in the leadership of Umno at the divisional level after its current round of elections.

The only way the party can bring in new blood is to get the top people to bring new faces in, said Umno supreme council member Shahrir Samad.

"This is because if one wants to get elected at the branch and division levels, one has to be a familiar face, and familiar faces are old faces. So, it will be old faces in new positions.

"In order to be able to win a division level, you must have patronage and the patron must be someone at the top," said Shahrir, stressing that new faces just cannot win without patronage.

Shahrir, who was returned unopposed as the Johor Bahru Umno chief, was commenting on the Umno branch and division elections that are currently being held nationwide.

"The young ones would not want to join Umno if they are not elected and appointed to positions. Thus, they are not encouraged. The young ones should be given opportunity to hold positions and this can only be done by the top people in position such as ministers," said Shahrir.

Groomed for leadership

He stated that positions such as political secretaries and other assistants would be able to give prominence to the young ones capable of being groomed to take over leadership later on.

"However, the people at the top are more interested in strengthening and protecting their own positions.

"So, if the people at the top of Umno are complaining that there is no new blood being brought in, they should be the ones to blame," said Shahrir.

Nevertheless, he conceded that new faces such as Azimi Daim and Azalina Othman were appointed to the supreme council, citing them as examples of how the top echelons of Umno can rejuvenate the party.

Shahrir also commented that the Umno division elections in Johor have been uneventful and not much different from the years before although there were stricter rulings to curb campaigning by candidates and corrupt practices.