This is the time for party members to debate and discuss extensively the direction UMNO should take. It is in this context that I am advocating a leadership contest. You cannot rejuvenate the party and inspire the confidence of young voters unless the leaders articulate more progressive policies and showcase the talents they have in order to assume the country’s leadership. Najib and his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin have different approaches to leadership and it would be enlightening to see where they are different, both in terms of their ideology and management style. More importantly, such a contest would allow a party that is clearly going south to take stock of itself and make some big decisions. Which leader is better equipped to tackle the mother of all scourges, corruption? This is one of many worthwhile element of the new Malay Agenda that is now worth pursuing.

Umno, the county’s largest political party, is due to hold its party elections soon. Najib who performed poorly in the recently-concluded 13th general election, winning only 133 of Parliament’s 222 seats – even worse than his predecessor Abdullah Badawi’s 140 seats – is expected to face challenges from veteran leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, the Gua Musang MP, and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.Najib actually hasn’t given the media an opportunity to quiz him on the subject. And he probably would not agree to the next interview, unless the interviewer agrees not to ask unwanted questions and go off the record wherever he does not want to go public. It is hard to remember when he faced his last interview. Perhaps there has been none afterToday’s self-assertive culture is all about stating clearly your desires and wants, and expecting to fulfill them. We have allowed ourselves to imagine we have a right to get whatever we want; this creates a sense of entitlement that makes us selfish and self-centred, blurring needs from wants. It is important to define the tipping … Read more

So far, several party bigwigs and a few divisions have called for zero contests for the top 2 posts. However, the race is still open and few would exclude the possibility of a revolt among the Umno ranks for a change in president.

“If Najib was feeling secure about his post, there won’t be this need to have the divisions and Mahathir to openly call for no contests. With Mahathir’s backing, Najib does look set to retain the presidency. But it is way too early to jump to conclusions and there are opportunities still for Mahathir to U-turn on his backing. If I were Najib, I wouldn’t relax at all,

The article was posted on the website  before Mahathir visited Najib and had a 45-minute closed door one-on-one meeting with him. Hitting out at , thoughtlessly weakened” Najibi’s position  in the wake of a “manufactured controversy”He warns that the “decay that has begun in the UMNO will most “certainly accelerate if Muhyuddin is further humiliated and forced either to retire or to rebel”.Uppermost in the UMNO vocabulary is the expression of the Malay Agenda, a potpourri of rights and entitlements that the party claims is fundamental for the Malays. This will be the main thrust of the party leaders’ speeches during the upcoming UMNO General Assembly. With the results of GE13 and the Chinese and Indian communities’ rejection of UMNO/the Barisan Nasional, it’s natural to expect that everyone will have a wild time bashing the Chinese. Some nutty ones will ask for the Treason Act to be enacted—they will want the Chinese to be sent back to China and Islam and the Malay Rulers to be strengthened. These are the kind of steps the unthinking Malays in UMNO will be clamouring for, but all that will lead to is yet another show of misplaced anger and another round of wasted time. If Malay leaders could be honest enough to admit it, they would recognise that giving more power to the Malay Rulers and “strengthening Islam

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim described as “undemocratic” the call by some Umno bigwigs including former premier Mahathir Mohamad not to challenge Prime Minister Najib Razak for the position of party president.

By convention, the Umno president becomes the prime minister of Malaysia as Umno is the largest party controlling 88 of the Barisan Nasional’s 133 parlimentary seats.‘No contests’ for top 2 posts a means to bar Muhyiddin from challenging Najib

Mahathir as an “autocrat” who c If Malay leaders could be honest enough to admit it, they would recognise that giving more power to the Malay Rulers and “strengthening Islam” (whatever that means) will not solve these problems.ares “two hoots” for UMNO virtually his alter ego, has also called Rosmah  ”foxy”. He has said the Najib  has “astrologically-induced delusions” of becoming the PM for a secound term.”An autocrat Najib is sought to be enthroned, and a perfect democrat Muhyudini being marginalized and humiliated.. Mahathir. “…A self-centered leader who has shown that he cares two hoots for the party organization hisson in his own state has suddenly become all powerful, whereas a selfless leader who toiled for many decades to build the party brick by brick is being cast aside as a useless relic. the Malay Agenda has to be introspective. UMNO can continue to take the easy way out and just blame the Chinese, the ungrateful Malays and everyone else, but one of the most cited reasons why people are not supporting the party is the corruption of its leaders. Corruption denotes a system where those with money are able to overcome any policy or rule because the leaders are corruptible. So UMNO can shout “Hidup Melayu” loudly and clearly, but if the decision-maker, who is invariably Malay, can be bought then no policy or special privilege will save the Malays. Prime Minister and UMNO President Dato Sri Najib Razak mistakenly describes this as a perception problem,

When pressed by the media, he acknowledged such a practice of suppressing competition was unfair but a culture within Umno and he himself had suffered this when he was there.

Anwar had been the Umno deputy president and Deputy Prime Minister until his sacking in 1998 by Mahathir on trumped-up sodomy and corruption charges, which are now widely acknowledged even within Umno to be part of a diabolical conspiracy by Mahathir and former finance minister Daim Zainuddin to curtail his phenomenal popularity and rise in the party.

Anwar’s answer also reflected the suspicion of many Malaysians in the run-up to the much-watched Umno internal election that the call for no contests for the top two positions – the presidency and deputy presidency – was actually a means to allow Najib to retain the No. 1 spot while barring Muhyiddin from making a challenge.

“Even when I was in Umno, this was just pushed through by Mahathir. Many of us did not agree but that was what it meant to be. That there be no possibility to challenge the presidency at that time. That was why the decision made. So if Najib wants to bar, preclude the possibility of Muhyiddin contesting against him, that’s a decision for Umno to take. My view even in those days is that it is not democratic,” said Anwar.

“Notwithstanding who the personalities are, the party that claims to fulfill the principles of democracy must allow for open contests. The people must be allowed, they can choose not to. But you cannot bar or you should not.”

ZAHID: PM SHOULD ALSO RESIGN FOR ALLEGED MURDER OF MONGOLIAN NATIONAL ALTANTUYA SHAARIIBUU.

French Scorpene probe extends to Bala’s SD2  PM should also resign for alleged murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu. Mahathir said, When a BN minister or member becomes a liability, the BN will use all the “goodies” they have collected to destroy him/her by using the judicial system and other forms of blackmail. Mahatir is the master of … Read more