Former Umno vice-president Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah may have 'fallen into his own trap' by offering to contest a top post in the coming party elections, said an Umno leader.

"I understand that Umno divisions are expected to nominate Ku Li (as Tengku Razalaeigh is popularly known) for the vice-president post as a 'test' of whether he is truly sincere about leaving it to them to decide on his position within the party.

"If he obtains enough nominations for the post of vice-president, but rejects them, then it is certain he will be seen as playing politics...," added the Umno leader from Kelantan.

According to him, Tengku Razaleigh is qualified to hold that post as he was previously a vice-president, during which he unsuccessfully challenged Dr Mahathir Mohamad for presidency in 1987.

"Furthermore, he had lost twice to Musa Hitam for the post of deputy president... so the highest post ever held by Ku Li is vice president," he said.

In view of this, the Umno leader rejected the notion held by certain quarters that Tengku Razaleigh, who commands a strong power base in Kelantan, has placed his supporters in a difficult position by not stating which post he wants to go for.

Testing waters

Tengku Razaleigh landed in the spotlight following speculations that he may re-enact the '1987 saga' by contesting against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for the Umno top post.

Should he decide to contest, Tengku Razaleigh would be going against the Umno supreme council, which had earlier 'advised' party members not to contest the top two posts.

Tengku Razaleigh's continued silence on the matter has only served to add fuel to the speculations.

"Actually, Ku Li himself will be in a fix if he only gets enough nominations for the post of vice president, and rejects it. This will surely result in party members speculating about his true intentions...," said the Umno leader.

On the same note, he said if Tengku Razaleigh explicitly states his desire to go for either of the top two posts, this will put Umno members in a fix as well.

In any case, an Umno leader from Selangor claimed that Tengku Razaleigh was not serious about contesting despite openly stating his readiness to be nominated for a top post.

"I think that it is more of a seasonal issue... every time the party elections draw near, Ku Li is said to be contesting for a top post. The difference is, this time Ku Li said if there are enough nominations, he will contest, but he did not say which post.

"To me, he only wants to test 'his standing' in the hearts of Umno members," he said.

Insufficient nominations

However, the Umno leader said that Tengku Razaleigh would not be able to secure enough nominations for the president or deputy president posts.

"If for the post of vice president, possibly...," he added.

According to the quota which has been fixed, a candidate needs to get 30 percent of the nominations from 191 divisions to contest for the post of president, 20 percent for deputy president, 10 percent for vice-president and five percent for a supreme council seat.

"Even if all 14 Kelantan divisions nominate him for president or deputy president, that is still far from enough... but if it was for the post of vice-president, that would surely help Ku Li garner enough nominations...'" said the Selangor leader.

In the previous party elections, Ku Li succeeded in getting 16 nominations for the post of vice-president and one nomination for the post of deputy president. At present, he is an appointed supreme council member.