Regard Umno contest like family competition, says Maznah

The contest for the Wanita Umno leadership post should be seen as a family competition in tandem with the party's transformation process, the movement's executive council member Datuk Maznah Mazlan said on Monday.

She said all Umno leaders and members should have an open mind and to accept that the contests were aimed at further strengthening the party.

"I hope they (Wanita Umno members) will assess me with an open heart, based on my experience, my fighting spirit, willingness to work and go to the ground , as well as my ability to lead," she said at a media conference here.

It is her first media conference since she submitted her nomination for the Wanita Umno leadership post last Saturday.

The contest for the Wanita Umno top leadership post will be a three cornered fight between Maznah, life member Raihan Sulaiman Palestin and incumbent Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil.

Asked the reason for her wanting to contest the post, Maznah said there was no problem in the movement, but there were rooms for improvements.

The Muadzam Shah State Assemblywoman for five terms, Maznah, 62, was Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister between April 2008 and April 2009 and then as Deputy Human Resource Minister from April 2009 until April this year.

She said she was not pushed by any quarters to vie for the post, but made on the spur of the moment at about noon when she was in Rompin, Pahang.

Her nomination form was submitted by her representative, Mohamad Baba, at the Putra World Trade Centre about half an hour before the deadline.