Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has secured a commanding lead over Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in the race for the Umno president post after one-third of the party's 191 divisions had filed their nominations by last weekend.

As of yesterday, the premier received 66 nominations from party divisions nationwide to contest the seat while Tengku Razaleigh has yet to get a single nomination.

According to a Bernama report today, all the divisions which met yesterday also threw their weight behind Abdullah and his deputy Najib Abdul Razak.

The divisions included five in Sabah (Tuaran, Putatan, Penampang, Kalabakan and Tawau), one in Labuan, five in Negeri Sembilan (Telok Kemang, Rembau, Rasah, Jempol and Jelebu), three in Perak (Tapah, Kuala Kangsar and Parit).

The others are nine in Selangor (Tanjong Karang, Ampang, Serdang, Subang, Klang, Shah Alam, Sepang, Pandan and Kota Raja), one in Melaka (Masjid Tanah), one in Penang (Bukit Gelugor) and one in Pahang (Rompin).

On Friday, Tengku Razaleigh caused a stir when he declared his intention to contest for the party's top post.

The Kelantan prince was criticised for his move that transgressed an Umno supreme council 'advisory' earlier which called on members not to eye the top two positions in the party.

In 1987, Tengku Razaleigh had mounted a similar challenge against then prime minister and Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He lost by a mere 43 votes.

Vice-presidency

Meanwhile, in the race for vice-presidency, Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is ahead in the rather crowded field.

Others nominated are Mohd Ali Rustam, Mustapa Mohamed, Mohamed Isa Abdul Samad, Shahrir Samad, Zaid Ibrahim, Adnan Yaakob and Abdul Ghani Othman.

For the posts of Umno Youth chief and deputy chief, the two most popular candidates are Hishammuddin Hussein and Umno Youth executive council member Khairy Jamaluddin .

Both of them exceeded the minimum nominations required Saturday for the two posts.

Umno Youth headquarters reported that Hishammuddin had received 130 nominations while Khairy (121), Mukhriz Mahathir (6), Azimi Daim (2), Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo (1).

Wanita Umno chief Rafidah Aziz (123 nominations) and deputy chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (128 nominations) continued to pull in the nominations from Wanita Umno divisions.

Nominations received yesterday included from Nibong Tebal, Balik Pulau, Tanjung, Jelutong and Bukit Gelugor in Penang and six divisions in Johor, namely Air Hitam, Pontian, Ledang, Tebrau, Johor Baharu and Kulai.

Meanwhile, Dr Siti Zaharah Sulaiman who hoped to challenge Rafidah so far has only managed to garner five nominations which she received Saturday.

For the Puteri Umno chief, the wing's vice-head Noraini Ahmad is ahead of her closest challenger, Suraya Yaacob of Kedah with 26 nominations.

Noraini, with 103 nominations, received strong support from divisions in Johor and Sabah, while Sabah Puteri Umno chief Rosnah Abdul Shirlin (66 nominations) is the favourite for the number two post.

The 191 Umno divisions will have up to July 22 to complete their nominations. Another 125 are due to meet in the coming weeks.

Those candidates who have obtained the required number of nominations to qualify for contest will slug it out at the Umno general assembly in September.