NO one in the party, not even Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan himself, ever saw him becoming Umno’s No 1 – but there he was on Friday afternoon chairing his first supreme council meeting as the deputy president taking on the duties of the president.

Mohamad, or Mat Hasan as he is known in Umno, is the first technocrat politician to lead Umno, and he is taking over at the lowest point in the party’s history. He is also the third party chief since the general election in May, as his predecessors fight corruption charges in court.