Muhyiddin says he’s ready to move up, slams quota system - The Star

By Paul Gabriel

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has come out with the strongest indication yet that he would be contesting one of the top two positions in the December party polls.

He said he had received a lot of feedback from “grassroots, advisers and proposers” who told him that it was time to move up the party hierarchy. As vice-president, “a move up” would mean a challenge for the deputy presidency or presidency.

The International Trade and Industry Minister, who hit out at the party's restrictive quota system which prevented members from contesting for posts without a specific number of nominations, said he would consider many things, including having to face “incumbents and the powers-that-be”, before making a decision.

”It is not an easy decision to make. But people say (to me): 'You have been vice-president for three terms. Now you have to look at something else'.

“I think I will make the right decision, hopefully, when the time comes,’’ he told The Star in an interview at his ministry office.

The 61-year-old Muhyiddin, who was first elected vice-president in 1993, described himself as an innovator and “someone who would not take things lying down.”

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/11/nation/21218890&sec=nation]