Shahrizat ‘afraid of her own shadow’

An Umno leader slams Shahrizat for claiming contest for Wanita Umno leadership would split up party.

PETALING JAYA: An outspoken Umno division chief has slammed Shahrizat Abdul Jalil for claiming contest for its women’s wing top post would split up the party.

Cheras division head Syed Ali Alhabshee said it was “not wise” of the incumbent Wanita Umno chief to claim contest for her position would lead to “divide and splitting in the party”.

He described Shahrizat’s accusations as “baseless” and believed the general perception conceived from Shahrizat’s statement was that the women’s movement was “afraid of its own shadow”.

“If there are candidates willing to contest for her position as Wanita Umno chief, Shahrizat should instead welcome the move to respect the party’s democratic system, not make accusations that the interested individual is trying to divide the party,” Syed Ali said on his blog.

“Why is Shahrizat so afraid of her own shadow? If she is a dedicated leader, she should not have issued such a statement as if to say nobody else is fit to lead Wanita Umno,” he added.

Syed Ali said Shahrizat should embrace the current political scenario and accept that her time as Wanita Umno chief is at its end.

He said Shahrizat’s ongoing behaviour of painting potential rival candidate Azalina Othman as unfit for the job only reflects her “immaturity and inability to handle conflict”.

“Shahrizat’s implied statement to Azalina that the contest would bring about a split between Wanita Umno and its youth wing is also inaccurate and only discredits her reputation as leader,” he added.

He then reminded Shahrizat to refrain from making statements depicting the conflicts between Wanita and its youth wing, Puteri.

“We also appeal to Azalina and those interested to campaign for Wanita leadership to refrain from instigating a divide between Puteri and Wanita,” he said.

“This is not good for the party as it would lead to conflict between mother and child. It is certainly not favourable,” he lamented.

However, Syed Ali was confident that the fight for Wanita’s top post would not bring about detrimental effects to the party as a whole.

He reiterated that if Azalina or any other individual was interested in Wanita Umno’s top post, Shahrizat should view it positively and make way for new leadership.

“It is not that we hate Shahrizat, but this is for the betterment of Umno’s future especially its women’s wing,” he said.

“Shahrizat needs to accept that her time has passed, and she should step down in the upcoming party election.”

Shahrizat, who was a cabinet minister for 11 years, had her career derailed by her husband’s alleged involvement in the National Feedlot Centre scandal that PKR began exposing in 2011.

Azalina too has had her share of bad press. Her stint as the Youth and Sports Minister was marred by several controversies, including the failed and costly plan to turn the Rubber Research Centre in

Brickendonbury, Britain, into a high-performance sport centre for Malaysian athletes.