Who fills that post could define whether Najib Razak, who will become prime minister in March, pushes forward with reforms and reaches out to non-Malay voters or whether he hunkers down and appeals to the Malay majority, 60 per cent of the population.

Mr Najib, 55, himself was deputy president of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), a post that also made him deputy prime minister and will do the same for his successor.

Umno leads the Barisan Nasional coalition that has ruled Malaysia for 51 years. It recorded its worst ever election result earlier this year and is now under attack from a resurgent opposition. That election performance led to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi agreeing to hand power to Mr Najib.

WHAT IS THE PROCESS

If a candidate gets more than 39 votes from the geographical divisions that make up Umno, he is entitled to stand in the party polls due in March.

International Trade and Industry Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, 61, surged at the start of the month-long party voting process and has already qualified with 79 nominations.

But since then two other candidates have emerged with a real chance, likely forcing a contest in March. This would be the first time the post has gone to a vote in over 20 years if it does.

The two are Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam, who needs seven more votes to reach the 39 nominations and Muhammad Muhammad Taib, a senator, who needs 10 more.

The nomination for Mr Ali, 59, gained steam after Mr Abdullah told party leaders anyone has the right to go for the No. 2 post. But he has denied he was throwing his support to Mr Ali.

Mr Muhammad, 63, is Umno's information chief and resigned in 1997 as chief minister of Selangor state after he was charged in Brisbane with attempting to take undeclared cash equivalent to A$1.26 million (S$1.26 million) out of Australia.

What would they bring

Both Mr Ali and Mr Muhammad could likely signal a return to concentrating on Malay rights, a move that could damage relations with the ethnic Chinese and ethnic Indian communities.

It was the parties from these two communities which lost most heavily in elections in March this year when the Barisan Nasional won less than two thirds of parliament seats.

Both Mr Ali and Mr Muhammad were teachers before they decided to become career politicians, and neither speaks fluent English.

Mr Muhyiddin by contrast is a trained economist, speaks English and is reckoned to have a sharp brain. He has stayed well away from anti-Chinese comments that appeal to the Malay hard core.

In an editorial last month, Sin Chew, a Chinese newspaper associated with the Malaysian Chinese Association (part of Barisan Nasional), noted his emollient approach.

'In the aftermath of Umno/BN's disaster in the March 8 polls, he quickly repositioned himself as an independent voice in the party. Muhyiddin, interestingly enough, kept himself above the orgy of race-baiting some Umno leaders chose to engage in,' it wrote.

By contrast, the Umno-friendly New Straits Times daily wrote on Friday that party grassroots wanted a contested poll in March to show their disapproval over the managed power transition.

'It's an opportunity for the grassroots to vent pent-up feeling of wanting to choose the future party leader,' it quoted party veteran Hassan Harun as saying. 'There has been no contest for the deputy president's post for more than two decades.' Whoever wins, time is tight and urgent action is needed.

The economy is turning down with economic growth set to slump to just 3.5 per cent next year from 5.4 per cent this year.

That's the slowest pace since 2001. At the same time there is a risk that racial tensions could reignite as unemployment rises.

'When Najib takes over, he only has small window of opportunity to institute change,' said Mr Abdullah Ahmad, a former aide to Mr Najib's father, the country's second prime minister. -- REUTERS