Deputy premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's presence at the Jelebu Umno division headed by de facto Law Minister Dr Rais Yatim today fuelled speculations that the latter may be heading towards better days in the party due to the duo's close personal ties.

One thing seems certain, if others do not hold much water - Rais will be contesting for an important post in the forthcoming Umno polls. At least, Abdullah's presence in Jelebu and surely, his heaping of accolades for Rais publicly can be taken as an approval and endorsement.

Similar background

Abdullah and Rais have known each other since 1973. Both had, in their own steam and ways, revolted against their present boss Dr Mahathir Mohamad before and had been in the "political wilderness".

As destiny would have it, the two proved that they certainly did share a lot in common by making political comebacks which could o­nly be described as "remarkable" in Umno.

When Umno was declared illegal by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in 1988, Rais had joined Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's Semangat 46, while Abdullah applied to join Mahathir's Umno Baru.

Party observers described today's function as an "indication" that Abdullah has endorsed Rais to contest for the vice presidency in the coming party election. Rais contested the post the last time but was unsuccessful.

"This could also mean that Rais is also in the running for the deputy president's post. I think Abdullah could anticipate that...yet, he still comes to officiate the meeting. So there could be some truth in the speculation," said an Umno leader.

Support

Rais, in his welcoming speech, has extended the Jelebu Umno division's support for Abdullah to lead Umno after Dr Mahathir's retirement in October.

"Pak Lah, you have arrived. This means you have reached where you should be...we always pray that you would continue to be up there," said Rais, adding that the Jelebu Umno division would 'sink and swim' with him (Abdullah).

Rais also complimented Abdullah for his successful two-month stint as acting prime minister, saying that the latter had proven his ability to solve many problems arising within the party.

Abdullah, in return, praised Rais for his good leadership of the division and expressed his confidence that the Barisan Nasional (BN) would be able to retain the Jelebu parliamentary and state seats in the coming general election.

"I would like also to express my thanks to all branch heads in Jelebu for their excellent leadership. I was told that all the branch meetings have concluded successfully," said Abdullah.

This, he added, showed that they were all united and would not cause harm to the party in any way.

On the setting up of additional Umno divisions and branches following the new delineation of election constituencies, Abdullah said that would be determined after the new seats are gazetted.

On the selection of Umno candidates for the coming election, he said the Umno leadership would first consult the division as well as the state liaison committee before making any decision.

He said this was to avoid any problem arising within the party which could affect BN's performance in the elections.

Respect decisions

The Umno deputy president also appealed to party members to observe party tradition and to respect all decisions made by the party leadership o­n important matters such as the selection of electroal candidates.

Earlier, Rais called o­n the Umno Disciplinary Board to be more aggressive in their efforts to curb money politics in the party.

The problems, he said, could be more rampant in the coming party election in view of the additional state and parliamentary seats.

The new delineation exercise creates an additional 25 parliamentary and 63 state seats.

Also present at the function were Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Isa Samad and senior state party leaders.