The problem with Deputy President Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is that he doesn't have a solid power base in Umno. Politically, ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's earlier meteoric rise in Umno has denied Abdullah the opportunity to establish strong support, even in his own hometown of Penang.

However, Abdullah's name continues to click with Umno members because he is probably among the few scandal-free Umno leaders. This was proven during the 1996 party contest when Abdullah was voted as Umno vice-president after his appeal letters were widely distributed among delegates.

Also, after Anwar's dismissal from the party and the government in 1998, Mahathir handpicked Abdullah to be his deputy.

Basically, Abdullah is a party man. After the 1987 presidency contest between Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, when the majority of Umno leaders then were openly expressing their support to either Mahathir or Razaleigh, Abdullah had insisted that a party AGM was the appropriate forum to solve party problems.

Obviously, his stance did not go down well with Mahathir's supporters, and Abdullah was then dismissed from the Cabinet in Mahathir's purge of Razaleigh supporters.

However, party members then began to appreciate Abdullah for his stand when he decided not to join Semangat 46, an Umno splinter party formed by Razaleigh after the Kuala High Court declared that Umno was an illegal organisation. Abdullah had instead, decided to stay with Mahathir in Umno (Baru).

'Kitchen Cabinet'

But that was not the end of his "problem" in Umno. Mahathir was said to be always surrounded by members of the so-called "Kitchen Cabinet" who were then popularly known among Umno leaders by the acronym "Aids" which stands for Anwar Ibrahim (AI), Daim Zainuddin (D) and Sanusi Junid (S).

Although Mahathir seemed to be on the verge of trusting Abdullah, but so as not to offend the Kitchen Cabinet, the most he could do then was to appoint Abdullah to serve as the foreign minister. This post provided little room for Abdullah to improve his standing in the party.

Abdullah soon found himself in a real political predicament. Firstly, because of the Anwar factor, he became a "lone ranger" in his own home ground of Penang. Secondly, being a foreign minister, he was confined to handling matters regarding the country's foreign policy. Lastly, his unambitious 'government servant' mentality did not help him politically.

However, Abdullah's name had always been in the mind of Umno members. When somebody coined the acronym "Rahman", which was believed then to represent the initials of former and future prime ministers and party presidents, Abdullah's name fitted in.

The acronym was as follows: "Rah" for Tunku Abdul RAHman, as well as RAzak Hussein, M for Mahathir, A for Anwar and N for Najib. But to some, the initial A could also mean Abdullah! It was until the dismissal of Anwar that the acronym made more sense to those people. And the next in line would be Najib.

Whether true or not for superstition has always had a place in Malay politics the writer was once told by several Umno leaders that they had been to Indonesia to obtain tangkal (talismans) which they believed would help enhance their political careers!

An interesting issue to observe is whether Abdullah, who was elected 'without opposition' to the position of deputy president, and thus have never had any confirmation of his popularity within the party, can protect himself from the obvious ambitions of the other up-and-coming leaders in Umno, especially the three vice-presidents (VPs).

Abdullah's assumption of the party presidency, if it happens, will create a vacancy for the post of deputy president. Will Abdullah be able to contain another round of party disputes over the president and deputy president posts?

This is the second part of a four-part series produced in conjunction with the Umno annual general meeting which will be held at the Putra World Trade Centre for four days beginning today.