KUALA LUMPUR: Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today having no contests for the top two posts in the party was not something new.
In an interview streamed live on NRChannel TV YouTube channel, he said that there were several instances where the top positions were not contested in the past.
He said that this was done under the leadership of both Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Back in 2018, there were proposals for the president's position not to be contested but Zahid was the one who opposed the idea and had it open to be contested.
"Yes, I opposed the proposal and since I was undertaking the duties of the president then (2018), I decided to let the position be contested.
"As a democrat, I will leave this to the party delegates to decide (whether to contest or not)," he said.
Umno has yet to decide whether the president and deputy president's posts will up for contest or not in the upcoming party polls.
Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan had previously said the party's supreme council had yet to decide on the matter.
He had said the matter could be decided at the special council meeting on the night of Jan 12, which is traditionally held before the Umno general assembly.
The date for the Umno polls have yet to be set.