JOHOR BARU: Umno supreme council member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi claimed that the motion passed by 140 division chiefs not to contest the two top posts was not "madness" but rather a decision made in light of the party's current needs.
Puad said this in a Facebook reply to former Rembau member of parliament Khairy Jamaluddin' statement, in which he labelled the party's decision as madness.
The former Umno Youth chief had earlier urged the party to "stop this madness" and that party president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was a fighter and did not fear taking on challengers.
He was hitting out at a group of leaders claiming to represent the 140 division chiefs.
Khairy also said blocking contests for the posts was detrimental to the democratic process.
Puad, who is also Johor state assembly speaker, however, responded by asking whether democracy only took place with contests.
"Does it mean that the majority of the delegates throwing their weight behind the decision to have no contests for the top posts are undemocratic?
"Madness is when everyone loses their focus and money politics takes over," he said in the same Facebook post.
Puad also downplayed Khairy's claim that Zahid was "ready to fight".
"It means that we are ready to fight the enemy to the end in the six state elections.
In an outright rebuke to Khairy, Puad remarked, "Don't just appear during general or party election and go silent at other times."
Khairy had reportedly forwarded a poster that questioned why the right to elect a party president was in the hands of a specific group of Umno division heads.
The support of the 140 leaders for Zahid and their decision to drop contests for the two top posts were announced by Solidariti Ketua-Ketua Bahagian Umno chairman Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Shafie Abdullah yesterday.
Earlier this month, Zahid had implied that he was ready to be challenged for the top post in the Umno polls.
He drew on the 2018 election as a testament to how he won against four other contenders.
Zahid had won the post then with 93 votes. Khairy received 51 votes and Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had 23.
The polls followed Datuk Seri Najib Razak's resignation after Barisan Nasional's defeat in the 14th General Election.
