Dr M says Umno still needs BN

Mahathir believes Umno cannot afford to go it alone.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad believes Umno still needs its component partners in Barisan National (BN).

The former Umno president explained that Umno cannot solely depend on the Malay community to rule the country.

“No, I think we need the component parties. We have been working together, this country is a multi-racial country, you cannot rule this country by just one race even if they are in the majority,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said that Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s speech truly reflected the struggle faced by Umno today.

“His speech was spirited, I think he realises the problem faced by Umno and has planned ways to get the party closer to the people,” he told reporters after listening to the Umno president’s opening speech at the party’s general assembly this morning.

He added that pressure is now on for Umno leaders to get closer to the grassroots.

“We find that many leaders in Umno distance themselves from the people and use power to get support from the people and this clearly does not work,” he said.

However Dr Mahathir feels that time might be too short for Umno to reform but emphasised that the party must deliver in order to regain support from the people.

“It is relatively easy to make speeches and promises but after this I am quite sure that the people will be watching whether you deliver or not, whether you walk the talk.

“After this I am quite sure that not only Umno members but the whole country will be watching so the government and the party must deliver on the promises,” he said.

Dr Mahathir also added that while the constitutional amendments will make the party more democratic he fears that money politics will still be a factor.

“I am not so sure that you can get rid of money politics but it is a little bit more democratic perhaps. I know these people, they will try but I hope they will stop making use of money in order to get votes,” he said.

Umno’s patience and confidence with the current power-sharing agreement with its partners in BN is apparently wearing thin.

During a rare three-day gathering of Umno divisions in Janda Baik last week, a common refrain heard was that Umno should be less generous in giving up Malay-majority seats to representatives of MCA, MIC, Gerakan and other component parties.

The general view among division chiefs was that the component parties were much weaker than Umno and would not be able to swing votes from the non-Malays or the Malays.

In contrast, a strong Umno was better placed to win in Malay-majority seats. So far, Najib has been non-committal to the push from Umno chiefs, but if MCA continues to be wracked by instability and infighting, he is likely to give in to the demands and completely sideline MCA and other non-Malay partners in BN.


comments


The current political situation in BN may encourage UMNO to be less accomodating in the current power-sharing agreement with the component parties. I believe it is a suicidal move if UMNO decided to be more domineering in the BN. The 'rakyat' are much more discerning and intelligent to be fooled. Think before your next move, UMNO !

They are not going to listen to Dr. M on this, he is the one who thought them about authoritarianism rather than persuasion. The father of undemocracy of the country..

UMNO is going to die.

Why are Malaysians so naive. Mahathir have cheated Malaysians using the component parties as a front.
So far Samy Vellu have not pulled an Ong Tee Keat PKFZ shit on him yet. Push this aneh far enough and see what happens. Who profited from the defective MRR2? Mahathir is telling Najib UMNO cannot withstand another PKFZ -like bomb. Moreover, without the component parties UMNO will have no whipping boy/s to make themselves look good in the eyes of the Malay ultras. It is obvious that Najib intends to do away with the component parties and reach out to the various ethnic communities directly. out of desperation to improve his standing with the Malays AND non-Malays. How will the natives of Sabah and Sarawak view this impending move by Najib. Not very well, I am sure. Moreover, abandoning the BN component parties is a move with no ‘gostan’ gear.

1Malaysia ?? just take Petronas for example ,where all the contractors, suppliers ,bussiness associates, etc are all belongs to umnoputras. Najib is a big liar.