UMNO will not be restored to its former glory days just by having Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi step down as party president, said a former UMNO leader.
Comparing the party to a “sick person with various chronic diseases who requires the attention of a specialist”, former UMNO supreme council member Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said what UMNO needs is to correct its direction first.
“The party must return to its core mission of uplifting the economic, educational and developmental status of the Malay community,” the former Pasir Salak MP was reported as saying by FMT today (Aug 17).
“The issue with Zahid is just one aspect of UMNO’s problems. If Zahid is gone, do you think UMNO will automatically recover? Though it doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be held responsible for UMNO’s poor performance in the state elections, he must take responsibility.
“There were certain UMNO leaders who put their personal interests ahead of the party’s cooperation with Pakatan Harapan (PH), particularly DAP, in government.
“This meant that they were ignoring “the Malay struggle” to achieve their own goals.”
Tajuddin, who was suspended from UMNO for six years for openly criticising Zahid, said he will organise a “Melayu Bangkit” gathering at Pasir Salak, Perak on Aug 30, open to all political leaders and parties sympathetic to the Malay political struggle.
“We invite everyone, even Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad can come,” he said.
Calls for Zahid to resign have grown louder following UMNO’s poor performance at the six state elections held on Saturday (Aug 12) last week, where the grand old party won a paltry 19 out of 108 seats it had contested in.
In Terengganu and Kedah, all UMNO candidates were defeated, including three former menteri besar namely Datuk Seri Ahmad Said, Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman and Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid.
Under Zahid’s leadership, UMNO also recorded its worst general election performance, acquiring only 26 parliamentary seats in the 15th General Election (GE15) last November, a far cry from UMNO’s golden days in the 11th General Elections (GE11) in 2004, when it won 109 parliamentary seats. – Aug 17, 2023
Main pic credit: ISMAWeb
