Umno party elections set for March 18

Umno will hold its elections on March 18, which will see delegates vote for a new leadership.

In a media statement, party secretary-general Ahmad Maslan said the date was agreed upon at the Umno supreme council meeting last night.

“The Umno divisional committee elections along with the Umno supreme council elections will be held simultaneously across the country on Saturday, March 18, 2023.

“The registration date for candidates for the divisional and central competitions will start on Feb 13, 2023 and close on Feb 26, 2023 at 5pm.

“Detailed statements about this matter will be announced later,” he said.

Annual branch meetings and elections for the branch committees as well as their respective Wanita, Youth, and Puteri wings will be held from Feb 1 to 26.

“The delegates’ meetings and elections for committee members of the Wanita, Youth, and Puteri wings at the divisional level as well as elections for the central level Wanita Exco, Youth Exco, and Puteri Exco would be held simultaneously throughout the country on March 11,” said Ahmad.

He added that the supreme council meeting also decided to appoint former minister Shahrir Abdul Samad as chairperson of the Umno Election Committee 2023 while Mustapha Yaakub was appointed as its secretary.

This election comes at a turbulent time after party heavyweights such as Hishamuddin Hussein, Khairy Jamaluddin, and Noh Omar were ruled out.

Hishamuddin was suspended for six years while Khairy and Noh were dismissed from Umno for violating party discipline according to the party Constitution.

There will likely be no competition for the positions of president and deputy president held by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Mohamad Hasan.

‘No contest’ motion

Previously, on Jan 13, Negeri Sembilan representative, Mohd Shukri Samsudin, submitted an additional motion in the party’s general assembly 2022 calling for the positions of Umno president and deputy not to be contested in the upcoming election.

Subsequently, as many as 140 division heads unanimously supported Umno’s two main positions not to be contested.

However, on Jan 20, Umno members Muhammad Aizat Fikri Mohd Nasir and Muhammad Fiqri Firdaus Muhammad Rom sent a notice of objection to the Registrar of Societies.

The notice was made after they considered the additional motion to be invalid and contrary to the Umno Constitution.

Zahid previously expressed his willingness to be challenged in the party election.

Prior to his shock sacking, Khairy did not rule out challenging Zahid.

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Umno party elections set for March 18

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