OCT 19 — Umno must return to its roots to be an all-inclusive party. That was the main theme of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s presidential speech at last week’s Umno general assembly when outlining the changes the party needs to do to survive.
I hope the Umno delegates to the annual assembly understood what Najib meant.
I have some doubts after reading the comments of some top Umno leaders who quickly proclaimed that the amendments made to the party constitution as being the “new” democracy for the organisation.
I don't blame many of them as they may not remember that the amendments merely restored the party election rules back to what they were before Umno Baru was formed 20 years ago.
Najib has shown tremendous courage and leadership in Umno by putting his position as president and Prime Minister at risk by reversing the rules which were created to protect Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his supreme council then.
I had a sense of deja vu as I listened to the other changes in behaviour and culture that Najib had proposed.
I had outlined similar changes during my career-ending bid for the party deputy presidency last year.
I had explained at great length why the party needed to rejuvenate fast and it was virtually impossible for the process to happen then. Essentially, I was blocked unfairly from contesting the post by the nomination quota system.
Today I am happy that the quota system is gone but it doesn't mean that I would be offering myself for top posts in my party again. Rolling back the quota system means more people will offer themselves to lead the party further but I believe Umno members should set aside their personal interests and rally behind Najib to win the people's support first.
Najib would be our last Prime Minister in Umno's incredible run in power since 1957 if he fails to change the party fast.
Even God might be on our side now as a window of opportunity has opened up due to Pakatan Rakyat's inability to "pakat" amongst the partners in the fractious coalition. But fighting our political rivals means we should strengthen ourselves first.
Personally, I have always practised an inclusive approach in performing my constituency duties since my first term as a Member of Parliament in 2004.
I have reached out beyond the Malay-based NGOs to attract support from Chinese and Indian groups with good effect. I believe that there are no walls within Barisan Nasional and we are one big party. We can't divide the electorate by race and get the component parties to get their support. We are one in Barisan Nasional just like Najib's 1 Malaysia.
I have used my background as a professional accountant to attract the many professionals living in my constituency in Johor Baru.
Those factors have contributed to my large majority of 20,500 votes in a constituency which is evenly divided between Malays and non-Malays.
Back to Umno's reforms, while it is good to open the election for top posts to a wider membership in theory, it may not achieve its intended results practically.
Most of the delegates to Umno divisional meetings are less informed and will still depend on the political operators at that level and may be easily tempted by a smaller token of appreciation for their vote.
I expect the bold plan to implement simultaneous voting for the 146,500 members eligible to cast ballots in all the 193 Umno divisons will encounter difficulties in administration and will attract accusations of bias and improper conduct.
It would be difficult to find unbiased and acceptable members in the party to run the election. And it would be counterproductive to ask outside and supposedly neutral parties to administer the elections.
The lack of confidence in the conduct of the "independent" Umno disciplinary committee in managing cases of abuse in previous party elections is a mistake that the members shouldn't repeat.
The demand for additional party posts in the supreme council and automatic voting delegates from the wings of the party reflects the lack of will of the younger leaders in Umno to move away from the mentality of "kejar jawatan".
The next generation remains trapped in the culture of chasing rewards such as projects and candidacy in the general election from the party posts they aspire to instead of working hard and subsequently being elevated to the coveted positions by the sheer number of supporters they command for the party.
A proper selection of candidates is vital for the party to complete its election strategy. It was proven in Permatang Pasir that the selection of a clean candidate is an important factor.
But the election of Tan Sri Isa Samad in the Bagan Pinang state election has proven that voters prefer a candidate with local roots more.
They love Isa because of his down-to-earth approach and he has served the voters from all races there well. As far as they are concerned, he had never cheated them and the allegations of corruption in Umno elections are not important to them.
But Najib did not address the methods that he would use to determine Umno's candidates in the future.
I hope he wouldn't reserve the final approval of candidates for himself as that method led to Barisan Nasional's disastrous performance in the last general election.
There were accusations of rigging the selection of candidates to suit the needs of the party president.
What Najib needs to do now is to free the party at the constituency level to determine their candidates. This can be done via an election at the constituency level to choose their preferred candidates as in the British party system.
The election can be open to all the members of the Barisan Nasional in the particular constituency. The candidate who is chosen will truly have support from the grassroots and therefore should win the actual elections.
And Najib should not interfere or change the choice of candidates elected.
But Umno Baru's problem lies in the fact that it has become a top-down party where the members wait for approval and instructions from the top two in the party.
This has encouraged the culture of reacting to events instead of taking steps to form public opinion in Umno's favour.
So, the changes in the constitution are in the right direction but the proof in the pudding is the execution.
The supreme council must behave in the overall interests of the party and not just theirs in formulating the rules to achieve the objective of the constitutional amendments.
Otherwise, Najib's aim to return to the roots of Umno will be in vain. So I do hope the entire party will back him in this venture as much as I do.
I will wait and see.
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