Published March 27, 2009

Muhyiddin to be next M'sian DPM

He wins race for Umno deputy presidency by landslide margin of more than 600 votes

By S JAYASANKARAN
IN KUALA LUMPUR

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INTERNATIONAL Trade and Industry Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, 62, is set to become Malaysia's next deputy premier after he trounced challenger Muhammad Muhammad Taib in the race for the deputy presidency of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) last night.

Mr Muhyiddin: In celebratory mood

By Umno standards, Mr Muhyiddin won big-time, by over 600 votes. In fairness, however, Mr Muhammad, the Land and Regional Minister by way of the Senate, had never been expected to make it although tongues had wagged that supporters of another popular candidate - Ali Rustam of Malacca who had been blocked from contesting after being found guilty of vote buying - would throw their support behind him.

Mr Muhyiddin has had a long record in Umno. He stuck by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad when the latter was challenged by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in 1987 and after that was appointed Johor Mentri Besar before joining the federal cabinet as Sports Minister, Agricultural Minister and later International Trade and Industry Minister.

His leap will now be meteoric. By virtue of the fact that Umno is the dominant party in Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, its senior leaders routinely occupy senior positions in government. Thus, although the position of deputy premier is not specified in the Constitution, it is conventionally given to whoever is elected deputy president of Umno.

Similarly, the party's three elected vice-presidents plus its two ex-officio vice-presidents - the head of the Youth and Wanita wings, respectively - are generally acknowledged to be at government level.

Last night, the party elected three new vice-presidents in this electoral order: Zahid Hamidi, the Religious Affairs Minister; Education Minister Hishamuddin Hussein; and Culture and Heritage Minister Shafie Apdal.

The results were not unexpected. All three men are close to incoming prime minister Najib Razak and the result was, in some ways historic. Mr Shafie is the first from Malaysia's eastern Sabah state to ascend to such rarefied ranks in the party hierarchy.

Mr Zahid used to be Mr Najib's political secretary while Mr Hishamuddin, a son of Malaysia's third premier Hussein Onn, is the putative premier's first cousin.

The Supreme Council that Mr Najib will inherit, however, was altogether different. Stalwarts such as Johor's Shahrir Samad and Ghani Othman, and Negri Sembilan's Mohamad Hassan lost altogether while a number of Malay right-wing conservatives - Sabah's Bung Mokhtar, and Perak's Hamzah Zainuddin and Tajuddin Abdul Rahman - easily made the cut. But Tourism Minister Azalina Othman did not make the list.

It looks like Mr Najib may have his hands full.