KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Wanita Umno chief Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz fired her first salvo a day after her deputy Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil announced her intention to challenge her in the coming party polls.

Stating that she would defend the wing's top post, Rafidah poured scorn on Shahrizat for breaking her earlier promise that she would not challenge her.

'She even said, 'My word is my honour', which was published in the media. She said she would abide by the advice of the party's top leaders and that she accepted the (June) transition plan,' said the long-serving Wanita chief.

Defending her post: Rafidah's 10-page handwritten statement which was issued Friday.

Rafidah said this through a 10-page handwritten statement which bore the letterhead 'Kuala Kangsar Member of Parliament'.

She did not directly say whether the transition plan, which would see her hand over power to Shahrizat in June, was still in place.

Shahrizat would not have challenged Rafidah for the wing's top post under the plan.

However, in her statement yesterday, Rafidah stated that she was 'defending her Wanita Umno chief post for the 2009-2011 term'.

'I am leaving it to the delegates to decide which leader they want for the 2009-2011 period,' she said.

She said she was disappointed that the transition plan, announced on Aug 4, had been rejected and called into question now, more than three months after it was announced and accepted.

'Since that date, NOBODY in the exco or outside it had questioned it.'

Rafidah said because of that, she had no reason to believe that there would be an uproar after the nomination process which ended on Nov 9.

Rafidah received nominations from 117 divisions while Shahrizat received 73 to run for the wing's top post.

'If in the course of our discussions there were some quarters who did not agree with the transition plan, as responsible leaders, they should have voiced out their objections.

'If they did that before the nomination process, then of course, the exco would have cancelled the transition plan and I would not have hesitated to allow the divisions to nominate whoever they wanted for the Wanita chief and deputy post,' Rafidah said.

Prior to her announcement on Thursday, Shahrizat had called for the transition of power to take place in March.

Yesterday, Rafidah said that this was not logical because although the Umno general assembly had been postponed from December to March, the Wanita transition had remained unchanged.

'If it is sped up to March, then it would mean that I have been forced to hand over the post to Shahrizat without contesting.

'This would deny the rights of the 117 divisions which had picked me.'

With Shahrizat going for the top post, Datuk Kamilia Ibrahim will win the deputy chief's seat uncontested.

With 58 nominations, she is the only one other than Shahrizat to qualify to contest for the number two post.