Saturday, March 28, 2009

Umno: The Future Is Now

....and incoming Umno president Najib Abdul Razak SURELY cannot walk alone to bring about that urgently-needed change in Umno.

In his winding-up speech and in response to outgoing president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he outlined what needs to be done by Umno to survive, be strong and return to glory in order to serve the people. To be the people's choice once again.

One of the most drastic changes, he forwarded, was to effect an amendment to the party's constitution to make the election of top posts more open , thus more democratic. And to review the quota system for nominations of top party posts.

The time has come for this, Najib said and a special conference will be held to deliberate on this.

At the moment, Najib said the top Umno leadership is determined by 2,600 umno members.
He acknowledged the widespread view that their choice cannot possibly mirror the aspirations and wishes of Umno's morethan 3 million members.

"They feel that this number (of delegates/members) is too small....we know their names by heart, we remember their faces, we remember even their phone numbers.. In our salam, we have salam SK or salam SI..."

Najib said that members must realise that only with a clean image, and through a more open election process can Umno win the confidence of the people.

For as long as the process is smeared, Umno cannot hope to regain that confidence.

He said members MUST WANT TO CHANGE, They must want to have a clean election process.

So, he declared, let the leaders be chosen in the name of the rakyat.

Najib reminded delegates about the BN's defeat in 5 states in the last general election.

"We have regained one of them but that is being disputed", he said in reference to Perak,

Najib said surely Umno members must realise that Umno must be reformed.

He forwarded the need to include the people in the business of government under the long-practiced "party dominating government" concept.

"The party must know the aspiration and feel the pulse of the rakyat in order to translate all that into government policies and action. When a government that is dominated by the party realises the aspirations of the people, then it will be a party that is supremely strong and powerful."

Indeed, it will not be an easy ride for Najib. He has these few years before the next general election to clean up and overhaul the party.

He did say that it is not that the Malays have rejected Umno but that they want Umno to change.

I believe that generally many Malays have rejected Umno and yes, they want Umno to change.

If we were to make an assessment based on the new line-up, then we can conclude that, no...Umno is not quite ready to take that bold step.
(Umno delegates voted some people whose reputation or contribution is rather, er.. questionable.) Read HERE.

Nevertheless, the whole nation is waiting for Umno to surprise us all.

It really depends on how Umno will turn out to be.
Will it be a party that can feel the pulse of the rakyat? Will its leaders be who the rakyat want?

It remains to be seen whether a new, reformed (and dare I say) clean Umno can regain the confidence of the Malays -- young and old. Whether it can appeal to Malaysians, at large.

Can it be a party that is no longer held in contempt and ridicule?

As I have said, Najib and Muhyiddin have a herculean task ahead of reforming and transforming the party.

15 comments:

fencesitter said...

dear kak ina,
sebenarnya saya berasa sedih bila pemimpin-pemimpin yang baik dan bersih tidak diberi tempat oleh perwakilan dalam majlis tertinggi. Pemimpin seperti Ghani Othman dan Rais Yatim yang sememangnya bersih dari politik wang tidak terpilih walhal mereka yang secara sah korupt dan tidak setia diberikan tempat. Ini menunjukkan Datuk Najib perlu berbuat sesuatu yang drastik untuk membersihkan Umno. Saya juga kecewa pemimpin seperti Shahrir Samad dan Adnan Yaakob tewas. kedua-duanya, seperti ghani dan Rais telah bersungguh-sungguh mengelakkan dari menabur wang bagi memenangi jawatan MT bagi pemilihan kali ini. Ramai yang mungkin meragui apa yang saya tulis ini, terutamanya bila saya menyebut nama adnan yaakob. tapi itulah hakikatnya. walaupun dichop gangster, Tok Nan memang betul-betul bersih dan maklumat ini saya dapat dari sumber-sumber yang sangat kredible. Mungkin inilah sebabnya Datuk Najib memasukkan cadangan agar Umno lebih demokratik buat masa hadapan. Syabas Datuk Najib! Sebelum ucapan beliau sebentar tadi, saya sebenarnya sudah hampir putus harapan terhadap Umno. Tapi sekarang, saya nampak the light at the end of the tunnel. Terimakasih Kak Ina, kerana memberi ruang bagi saya mengulas serba sedikit.

Anonymous said...

Well good luck UMNO. Jangan cakap tak serupa bikin sudah lah.
Sedih melihat orang kampong yang ramai datang ke PWTC, ke hulu ke hilir mundar mandir tanpa menyedari politik sebenar yang berlaku.
Well sis, any wrong move or abuse of power by any one of them will spell disaster for the nation.
Najib can't do much as it stands now and he has no choice to use Che Det if the old man still alive and you know the story going around internationally right now. One snub will be followed by many and oh...dear.... What a scary and uncomfortable feeling ahead of Malaysia. PUTRA09.

ChengHo said...

Who is the General Secretary of UMNO/BN
Any proposal?

Anonymous said...

First time he saying feel the pulse of the rakyat! Oh dear, baru saja tahu dan faham, too little too late, the rot is still there, starting from himself, he has to come clean about all the uncertainties relating him to scandals.

Laimun said...

Let us give the man a chance to implement what he pledged he wants to do. I felt that his speech at the convention was sincere and he saw where UMNO was going. The tramlines were heading towards self destruction.

There is a past, a present and a future for UMNO. In other words, it is the same for Najib. No one is perfect. But if Najib is what I perceived him to be, I am willing to give him space and time to take UMNO out of its quagmire. And time is of the essence.

The task is overwhelming. His enemies are already at his doorsteps. So it is up to his team to keep them at bay.

Malaysians are watching his every step.

If BN wins any of the by elections, don’t go overboard with chants of “Hidup UMNO”.

If BN wins, it is because Malaysians are willing to give you a chance to prove yourself and accept it with humility.

And I hope and pray that BN is given that opportunity to lead the way it had, decades ago.

Unknown said...

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Mr. Ragunath Kesavan
Professor Dr Shad Faruqi
Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah

Watch HUJAH, TV9 TUESDAY 9PM

anti-rasuah said...

The future of UMNO certainly does not need this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaQqtOe_FBU

Anonymous said...

The umno meet looks and sounds like a Hollywood show.Everything starts with a bang[remember Pak Lah? work with me jazz???]The same will befall for Najib.The reason is simple , most of the delegates and warlords are tainted as blue.The rot started during TDM days and it's not gonna change.Even with one man vote ,it still won'nt work.There will be ways around to it with the wheeling and dealing.You cannot stop greed and power and umno is a one way ticket to paradise.Dont give us the crap if they say they love the Party first.
In umno idiots and dishonest bastards can be kingmakers and PMs.The malays have accepted that it's okay to be corrupt since you cannot beat the system.Fearing God has'nt an effect.Self destruction will be sooner than expected for umno.

Anonymous said...

Let the man do the job without distraction and leave the rest to hope. To do a good job requires planning, methodology and implementation. All these must be done with little or no distraction, to achieve the desired results.

But there are many enemies to ward off, especially those harbouring on petty issues, which people seem to love to believe.

One such issue is " Behind a successful man, stands his woman".

Trust me, it will be an issue that will be played over and over till the cows come home.

A GOOD MAN DOES NOTHING.

The Simple man said...

What's the point Najib say this najib say that but he benefited from the current system. To me all this UMNO and BN leaders sandiwara only.

My opinion, leaders like Tengku Razaleigh, Nik Aziz, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, Sharir Samad are the truly dedicated leaders that we have. These are men who have REAL PRINCIPLES and are not tainted.

MAHANOR SALEHA said...

Dengar pengakuan Anwar sebagai PENGKHIANAT BANGSA

http://selamba-u.blogspot.com/2009/03/anwar-si-pengkhianat-orang-melayu.html

gram.kong said...

Let's hope it's not the usual lip service.Malaysian politicians are very good at it.

Honestly, I have stopped taking politicians in this country seriously.They say what you want to hear but do exactly the opposite and what they don't want you to hear.

As they say 'fish rot from the head first'.Unless, the heads are cleaned first, UMNO will have no chance of retrieving itself.

MAHANOR SALEHA said...

Now TUn dah kembali, tentu harapan Umno untuk kembali relevan lebih jelas,

saya harap anwar tersukan sikap bongkak beliau, ramai dah orang PKR mual sedar karektor sebanar anwar

http://selamba-u.blogspot.com/2009/04/pkr-akui-silap-mencalonkan-manikumar.html

Anonymous said...

Tahniah Perdana Menteri Malaysia ke-6;
Najib Razak

-azienmat-
(03 April '09)

The Phoenix Foundation said...

NAS!
There is one perenial problem viz:
In 2004, Tun AB & BN won with a heavy majority. DSN was the DPM.
Why did ,all as Team { a proper consolidated team } attack all problems & deliver as promised.
Instead there was a mad scramble within.
In 2008 , the Ra'akyat delivered the most powerful bodyblow.
But the lesson was not learnt & accepted in all humility - SORRY , WE WILL IMPROVE!
The move against Tun AB , The attacks on th PR & the lies have frustrated & angered all of the Ra'akyaat.
Why is it necessary to have a two thirds majority?
Now DSN has promised again!
And frankly, all this whilst, I did not say anything about TMM but his rejoining UMNO is I believe the most disgusting & insulting action against The Ra'akyaat & frankly it will boomerang!
Godspeed.
Mr.M!