Khairul: I’ll cap Umno Youth chief age at 40

KUALA LUMPUR: The age ceiling for the Umno Youth chief and deputy may be capped at 40 if Khairul Azwan Harun is successful in his bid to helm the wing in tomorrow’s party election.

Khairul Azwan, the current Umno deputy Youth chief, also pledged to reduce the age limit for Youth members from 40 to 35.

There is no current age limit for the Youth chief and its deputy.

Current Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin is 42 years old.

At 41, Khairul Azwan himself is over his stipulated age limit, but he sees it as his responsibility to implement changes that can transform the party.

“This is to ensure the Youth wing becomes a training platform for young leaders to gain maturity,” he said.

The move requires an amendment in the party’s constitution and would be effective at the next party polls in 2021.

This pledge is the first of Khairul Azwan’s nine new offers to make the wing relevant and acceptable to Malaysians after its devastating loss in GE14.

In his campaign manifesto, Khairul Azwan also pledged to restructure the wing, simplify membership registration by removing bureaucracy and approval layers.

Meanwhile, Melaka Umno chief Datuk Seri Idris Haron has explained his action in abruptly ending his division’s meeting on Wednesday following a motion which called for him to resign as Tangga Batu Umno head.

He said the group which tabled the motion was emotional, vengeful and made untrue statements.

“When I saw that something was amiss and filled with emotion, I as chairperson announced the meeting be postponed,” Bernama quoted Idris as saying.

He also claimed the motion was an organised conspiracy to topple him.

Tangga Batu Umno deputy chief Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah, in relating Wednesday’s events, said the motion was tabled during the divisional meeting chaired by Idris and attended by 30 committee members.

He said the motion called for Idris to take responsibility for Barisan Nasional losing power in Melaka in the May 9 general election.