Opinion
The race for the Umno Youth position posts will see a four-cornered fight and it is going to be an open card for all four of them with distinctive experience and political ideology to lead the oldest Malay party.
Although some political observers have said that Dr Akmal Saleh and Datuk Arman Azha Abu Hanifah have the upper hand, let’s not put aside the ‘dark horse’ that could be a possible winner, Mohd Shahar bin Abdullah.
The other candidate in the race is Meor Hassan bin Hj Mat Ali.
At grassroots level, Shahar is the Pahang Youth chief and is a Paya Besar member of parliament.
In 2018, he was appointed as the Information Chief and in 2020 under the Muhyiddin Yassin administration, he was the former Deputy Finance Minister.
With vast experiences, he could fit the shoe to lead the Umno Youth race to be determined in the party polls.
Meanwhile, on Keluar Sekejap’ talk show, between Shahril Hamdan and Khairy Jamaluddin (KJ), KJ said that Shahar has experience as Umno Youth exco, Information Chief and state Youth chief experiences as well as ex-deputy finance minister experience in administration and holding long position as AJK who knows the political maneuvers and most importantly Mohd Shahar does not make a ‘U-Turn’. (For full audio — https://www.audioplus.audio/keluar-sekejap/)
The final pick from Shahril Hamdan is Mohd Shahar bin Abdullah.
Since Mohd Shahar bin Abdullah is the Paya Besar MP, his leadership can make Umno a formidable force to be reckoned and champion the voice of the Malay Youths and Malaysians.
Umno Youth chief candidate Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah wants delegates to give him a chance to lead the youth wing to bring their voice to Dewan Rakyat.
He said Umno youths needed a leader who is an MP, Sinar Daily reported.
“We haven’t had an Umno Youth chief who is in Parliament since 2018. If compared to post GE15 (15th general election), Youth chief of PKR, DAP, Amanah, Bersatu and Pas are Mps but not Umno,” he said, adding that he has been an MP for two terms.
The Paya Besar MP further told reporters at Dewan Rakyat that poverty issues that need to be raised as issues affecting the young in Kuala Lumpur are not the same as the youths in Jerantut or Pensiangan (Sabah).
The Umno elections are being held from Feb 1 to March 18, with the branch-level elections being held from Feb 1 to 26, followed by the elections for the Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings at the national level on March 11.
The Umno divisional delegates’ meetings and committee elections as well as contests for seats in the Umno supreme council will be held simultaneously nationwide on March 18.
DG/RP
