The race is on

The title might suggest what went on at the Suzuka GP F1 race where Fernando Alonso won his second GP back to back in an incident(accident actually) filled race. But no, that is not what i meant.

I'm referring to what is happening in the Malaysian political scenario. Many Barisan political parties are having its elections. I'm not bothered about Gerakan and MCA as to me they are not relevant at all. Though not relevant just to point out that Lim Si Pin, the son of famous Lim Keng Yaik who is the former head of Gerakan, is the new head of Gerakan Youth Chief. Lim Si Pin became famous after his sensational loss to Tian Chua for the Batu parliament seat in the last General Elections while the father is famous for his spits rather than his wits.

UMNO is the party that interests me as it is generally known to us that the head of UMNO constitutionally will become the Prime Minister of Malaysia. The elections which was to be held in December has been postponed to March. As to why it was done, we have to ask Abdullah Badawi. My guess is, he thought he could cling on to the post and somehow manage to contest. I don't see a reason why you can't announce that you will not be defending your post on the 6th, 7th or 8th of October as opposed to 9th October 2008. What difference will it make? For someone who says the parliament will not be dissolved tomorrow but goes ahead and does so, it might make the difference.

As of today the tally stands at 28 nominations for Najib for the post of presidency. No others have been nominated for this post. Is this worrying? You tell me.

The last UMNO elections Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (Ku Li) went on to challenge the president but managed to garner only one nomination which was from his own division Gua Musang. In order to qualify for the elections for the post of presidency one must garner at least 58 nominations from 190 divisions.

Tun Mahathir was the one who mooted this idea of getting certain amount of nominations from divisions of UMNO and got the Majlis Tertinggi UMNO to pass this resolution. Each position had different number of nominations to qualify. It came into force after his narrow win when Ku li contested way back in 1987. What happened after that with UMNO Baru and Semangat 46 is well known to us and i shall not eloborate on that. I guess all of you would understand why Tun Mahathir did what he did and we all know why Tun's favourite song is Frank Sinatra's "My Way".

The hot contest will be for the post of Vice Presidency where eleven aspirants are contesting for 3 spots. As for the Deputy President, i think it will be a one sided contest with Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin winning hands down. Just look at the other two contestant. One is Ali Rustam who is the Menteri Besar of Melaka which recently bestowed a Datukship to SHAH RUKH KHAN. What the fish. Shah Rukh Khan for Datukship? What was running in his mind? Do we want him to be our DPM? Geli geleman youuuuu. In time to come, a lot of us will be calling each other Datuk. Throw a stone in a large crowd and i bet it will land on some Datuk.

Need we even talk about the other aspirant? Well we should. Just to touch base. None other than the infamous Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib, the former teacher who doesn't understand simple English as to how to fill up a declaration form in an airport in Australia. That was his rationale and the court in Australia actually acquitted him. Back in Malaysia, what was preplexing was the fact that no one quizzed him as to why he was carrying such a big sum of cash which as the Menteri Besar's pay cheque over the years could not amount to that figure. A transparent ACA, a free judiciary system among others which was promised by Abdullah Badawi back in 2004 which saw him winning a handsome majority and now we know why he will cease to be the PM of Malaysia in March.

The vice presidency nominations are currently led by the keris wielding Hishamuddin Tun Hussein followed by Shafie Apdal from Sabah and Zahid Hamidi. In the wake of the opposition threatening to take over the Government, Shafie Apdal had said that all the representatives (MPs) in Sabah will sign a form declaring their full support to Barisan which was defied by many. Now we know why he had said that. Garner support. Politic is dirty to the core. You will say things just to win support. But one must also remember that in politics one cannot be assured that his own wife will vote for him. One of the aspirant out of eleven is Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad. Did he even think before offering himself for the position? Here we are talking about a person who was found guilty of money politics enroute to numero uno position of vice presidency the last time around and was stripped of his position in the cabinet. Zulhasnan Rafique's star must have been really bright. From first time MP to deputy minister and upon Isa Samad getting stripped, a full minister. Anyway, no reason to talk about Zulhasnan.

UMNO Youth, the backbone of the party is seeing fierce battle. It is akin to the battle of World War II. Datuk Mukhriz, son of Tun Mahathir has secured enough nominations to contest the post. One needs 38 nominations and he has 40 thus far. When i look at Mukhriz, he comes off as a carbon copy of his dad. Complaining and whining that the UMNO youth is being prevented from meeting him. Didn't we hear all these from the senior some time ago?

The other aspirant is Khairy Jamaluddin, an Oxford University returnee and also famous as the current PM's son-in-law who at 32 will be the youngest Youth chief if he wins. He has not secured enough standing at 20 nominations. But my guess is he will well surpass the 38 needed. Many political pundits have blamed him as one of the big reason for Barisan's dismal showing at the last General Elections. I wouldn't dare deny that. He apparently is very arrogant. I don't know. I don't know him personally but judging from his famous "GEMPUR KELATE" press conference during the last General Elections one would suggest so in his personality. But come on. Will the UMNO youth want someone who rides on his father-in-law's name? Tell me, how else would he have won the deputy youth chief unopposed the last time around when he was just 28 and new to UMNO?

The other joker for this position is Datuk Seri Khir Toyo. Indeed he is a good joker. But if you remember the "joker" in the Batman series, you ought to be wary of this joker as well. A dark horse not literally as in his colour as he bleaches his face. Whatever happened to his spectacles? Owwww laser treatment is cheap nowadays. Must get mine done too.

Good day folks