Mohamad Hasan as acting UMNO president, Ismail Sabri as acting No. 2

On December 18 UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi hand over his task as the party president to his deputy, Muhamad Hasan. The decision was made after he faced criticism over his leadership which led to the UMNO exodus.

Subsequently, the appointment received support from Khaled Nordin. However, Lokman Adam suggested that Najib Razak should be the de facto leader of UMNO as the party need an experienced leader the midst of crisis. Swiftly, he was ridiculed by Khairy Jamaluddin, calling in a no-brainer statement on Twitter.

Days later, on December 20, UMNO secretary-general Annuar Musa revealed that the party vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob will be the acting deputy president.

Despite being said as a temporary arrangement, Ahmad Zahid office in UMNO headquarters had been cleared plus his portrait had been removed in UMNO Supreme Council meeting room. Besides, Zahid has been slapped with 46 charges – 11 counts of criminal breach of trust, eight graft charges and 27 money-laundering charges.

It seems like the move was made to avoid calling an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). Is it because of the possibility of Khairy becoming the party president, thus they avoid calling an EGM?