Ku Li wants Najib to remain as Umno’s No 2...

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who has offered to contest the Umno presidency in December, said Datuk Seri Najib Razak would be his choice to remain as deputy president. (read here )

Describing his relations with the Deputy Prime Minister as good, he said he had worked well with Najib back in the days when he (Razaleigh) was finance minister.

However, he said he would leave it to party members to decide on Najib's post.

Tengku Razaleigh, who is the Gua Musang MP, said “power in the party should be returned to members” by abolishing the existing quota system.

He called on the Umno leadership to be grassroots orientated, with leaders at all levels to be elected by the party.

“They should also be able to choose supreme council members without any restriction," he said during a dialogue session with the Umno branch leaders at Dewan Sri Mentakab on Sunday.

Tengku Razaleigh said divisions should also be given the power to choose the state liaison chairmen, who were now appointed by the party president.

“Umno is basically controlled by the leaders in Kuala Lumpur.

“In the future, branches and divisions should decide because they know very well who will work and serve the people and party," he said.

In the meantime, Prime Minister and Umno President Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi reinterated Sunday in Kuala Terengganu that Najib is his replacement although he has yet to set a precise date of transfer to to his deputy. (Read here and here)

Abdullah said the leadership transition was definite and would be carried out when he and Najib reached an agreement.

“I will hand over the Prime Minister’s post to him (Najib) ... that’s for sure, there is no doubt that he is my replacement, " he said.

“We have yet to decide on the date. When the time is right the transition would be done in a right way once both of us have agreed,” he told reporters yesterday.

On Friday, Abdullah was quoted as saying that he and Najib had reached an agreement on the right time for a leadership change. (Read here)

(Najib goes for the No.2 post while Ku li goes for the No.1 post? Now, would Najib or to be more precise, the misus, be agreeable to that arrangement? The misus gonna go beserk. Banyak cantik? )