The divisions in Kelantan and Sabah gave Mr Najib his first two nominations to contest the Umno presidency in March. They also nominated Minister of International Trade and Industry Muhyiddin Yassin for deputy president.

By convention, the party president and deputy are also Malaysia's prime minister and deputy premier, provided that Barisan Nasional forms the government.

The Machang, Kelantan, and Kimanis, Sabah, divisions were the first of the 191 divisions to hold their meetings.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin, who courted controversy by calling for Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's early retirement, yesterday formally announced that he was in the running for the deputy presidency.

'I am confident that I can play an important role alongside the future president in the effort to bring back racial unity,' he said.

He rated his chances as very good and, in an unexpectedly cheeky fashion, replied when asked what made him different from the other three candidates in the running: 'Because I am Muhyiddin Yassin.'

That was probably an apt reply, as Mr Muhyiddin is widely seen as the best candidate even though he does not enjoy as much ground support as Mr Najib. As a team, the two leaders are expected to sweep the bulk of grassroots support.

They have not openly declared a partnership, but the idea has been quietly pushed to the grassroots.

The other candidates for the No. 2 post are Rural Development Minister Muhammad Muhammad Taib, Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam and young Johor MP Nur Jazlan Mohamed.

The party's warlords are trying to engineer a no-contest for Mr Muhyiddin and the other candidates will withdraw if they do not draw enough support.

A candidate needs to be nominated by at least 58 divisions to run for the presidency, or 38 for the post of deputy.

The two posts became vacant after Mr Abdullah announced that he would not seek re-election as party president. He will retire in March.

Kelantan prince Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah plans to go for the presidency, but it is left to be seen if he will secure enough nominations.

In the wake of the March general election which left Umno severely weakened, the party is seeing one of its most intensely fought internal polls.

Many upcoming leaders see the opportunity to make inroads based on a platform of reform.

The three vice-presidencies are also hotly contested, with more than 10 candidates having declared their interest. These posts usually bring senior government positions with them.

Mr Najib told reporters yesterday that this was part of the democratic process.

The Youth Chief race is being fought largely between Mr Abdullah's son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin and former premier Mahathir Mohamad's son Mukhriz Mahathir.

A third candidate is former Selangor Menteri Besar Khir Toyo, while the fourth is a youth leader from Perlis.

Mr Khairy and Mr Mukhriz, so far, are neck and neck in the race for nominations.

The nomination process ends on Nov 9.

carolynh@sph.com.sg