Is Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's offer to contest the Umno presidency grounded on a genuine desire to inject into the party the missing element of democratic competition? Writer and political veteran Kassim Ahmad seems to think so.

Surely, the supreme council member and former finance minister would have been practical enough to realise the near impossibility of beating acting president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to the post.

At a time when Abdullah pulled off a truly historical feat that no other Umno leader has ever done - that is, win a nine-tenth mandate at a general election - there must be other reasons for Razaleigh's late entry into the contest, Kassim argued.

"The supreme council has been unnecessarily worried about the possibility that contest would cause a party split. It will never happen. This is why I think what Razaleigh had said - about wanting to reassert democratic competition into the party - is his true intention. The practice of democracy has deteriorated within Umno, and everyone knows it," said the former Umno member who quit the party in 1992, in apparent frustration for being unable to reform the party.

Preserve party unity

Yesterday, in a move that defied clear directives from the supreme council, Razaleigh announced that he was willing to accept nominations to challenge for the Umno presidency.

Up until then, it had seemed that party rank-and-file were backing the council's decision that the president and deputy president posts were off limits to any challenge at the upcoming Umno polls. It was argued that the move would preserve party unity.

According to Kassim, Umno members have learned to fear contest, caused by a combination of money politics where the richest stands the best chance at winning, and the inevitability of prolonged factionalism, just because of some competition.

"It is the way Umno politics has developed that has resulted in this fear of competition. Why shouldn't people have the right to nominate? Why shouldn't any member have the right to offer himself?

"At a time when Abdullah's moral standing looks high, given his wide electoral mandate, there should be support for the principle that individuals be allowed to offer themselves for any post within the party," he added.

Razaleigh, one time challenger to former president Dr Mahathir Mohamad, will need to secure 30 percent nominations from party divisions by July 22 - amounting to at least 58 out of the 191 divisions - to contest the party presidency.

All negative reactions

But not one party leader has yet to back Razaleigh's decision to run for the presidency.

Instead, leaders ranging from deputy president candidate Najib Abdul Razak, vice-president candidate Mohamad Ali Rustam, to Umno Kedah liaison chief Syed Razak Syed Zain, among others, have opposed Razaleigh's move.

"There is not even a remote possibility that any of the 15 divisions here (Kedah) would change their mind at the last minute and nominate Tengku Razaleigh for the top post," Syed Razak was quoted as saying.

"Abdullah has shown to be a good leader, and everything within the party seems smooth. So why should anyone contest against him now?" Terengganu veteran Tengku Mahmud Tengku Mansor told malaysiakini.

The recently-retired chair of the Setiu division said that open contest for the top post can perhaps be considered in five years' time, but for this round, Abdullah must be granted some room to manoeuvre and solidify his position.

"No political party will be strong with so much competition. And the history of Umno has shown that presidential contests have almost always been followed by major splits within the party," he added.