All eyes on Umno AGMs

Source TheSTar

PETALING JAYA: The Kimanis division in Sabah, headed by MP Datuk Anifah Aman, will be the first of the 191 Umno divisions to hold their AGMs this month.

The Kimanis division will meet on Oct 10, followed by Besut, Teren­gganu, on Oct 11.

Kimanis chief Anifah, who is also the younger brother of Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, has been causing ripples with his no-holds barred views on Sabah and the Barisan Nasional.

Besut, on the other hand, is headed by former Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh who has sent out an SMS that his division intended to nominate Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for president and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for deputy president.

A total of 26 divisions are scheduled to meet in the first of the four weekends allocated for division meetings from Oct 9 to Nov 9.

Sabah and Perak are taking the lead with a total of five division meetings each in the first weekend stretch.

Apart from Kimanis, the others in Sabah are Kota Kinabalu, Silam, Kalabakan and Tuaran. The divisions in Perak are Kampar, Taiping, Bruas, Parit Buntar and Bagan Serai.

Four divisions in Johor are scheduled to meet on Oct 12. They are Pagoh, Batu Pahat, Mersing and Pontian.

Pagoh is the power base of Muhyiddin while Batu Pahat is headed by the outspoken Datuk Dr Puad Zakarshi. Mersing is headed by Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Latif Ahmad while the Mersing MP Datuk Ahmad Mazlan is a staunch Najib supporter.

The other divisions holding their AGMs on the first weekend are Shah Alam and Subang in Selangor, Kuantan and Rompin in Pahang, Jempol and Jelebu in Negri Sembilan, Tasik Gelugor and Bukit Gelugor in Penang, Kota Melaka in Malacca, Cheras in the Federal Territory and Machang in Kelantan.

All eyes will be on these divisions and who they nominate for the two top posts of Umno for national elections which will take place next March.

The rest of the 191 divisions scheduled to meet later are still waiting for a clear-cut signal from Umno president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on whether he will defend his post in the party elections.

Abdullah is expected to make known his decision today or tomorrow.

Until he declares his decision, the 26 divisions meeting this weekend will be under great pressure over who to nominate for the two top posts.

Kelantan Umno chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa said most division meetings could not be held earlier because they have to wait for the three wings in their respective divisions to complete their own meetings.