"Allow all members to vote in the party elections, restrict the president's tenure to three terms or a maximum of nine years, and abolish the post of deputy president and the three posts of vice-president."

That, in a nutshell, is Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's proposal to stem money politics in Umno.

He said the "one member, one vote" system would enable all the 3.2 million members of Umno to participate in the election of the party president by majority vote. Party elections now are confined to the nearly 3,000 delegates attending the general assembly.

"This system can prevent the incidence of money politics because it will be difficult to bribe all the 3.2 million members.

"Money politics is an evil and this system is one solution. From the time of former president Dr Mahathir Mohamad, there has been no absolute solution. Why not try my formula?" he told reporters in Kota Bahru.

Bernama also reported that Razaleigh had proposed that the tenure of Umno president be restricted to three terms or a maximum of nine years and that the post of deputy president and the three posts of vice-president be abolished because it is said that money politics had the greatest influence on the elections for these four posts.

"Just elect members to the supreme council or committee only. If you want to have more members, elect up to 50. Anyone who wants to contest should be allowed to do so. The members will determine who among the 50 (the candidate who garners the highest number of votes) will become president, with perhaps the candidate with the second highest number of votes becoming the second leader (in terms of seniority).

Voting power to all

"This senior leader will take over from the president when the latter passes on. There will be no disputes under this system. Even if we want to buy votes, it will be difficult to determine whom to buy from because there are 3.2 million members," he said.

Razaleigh also said he was convinced ordinary Umno members would support his proposal because it puts voting power back in the hands of the ordinary members and not the delegates.

He said that public statements on money politics in Umno had come as a great embarrassment for the party and portrayed it as a party which employed "dirty" tactics.

His proposal, Razaleigh said, was considered to be more democratic.

"If taken up, I am sure the membership of the party will rise because many people want to help determine the party leadership," he added.