Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Khairy Jamaluddin slug it out in the first Umno presidential election since 1987. The winner of the polls will face a heavy responsibility to revive the party following Barisan Nasional’s defea

Party election contenders vow changes to rise again from the ashes

PETALING JAYA: Contenders for the Umno presidency have pledged sweeping reforms to revive the party and make it a strong Opposition force.

Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has pledged to lead an overhaul of the party structure to shed its elitist image and make it more accountable to its over three million members.

“In this new era, the rakyat does not want any barrier between them and the Umno leadership,” said the incumbent vice-president who is carrying out the duties of the president.

The former Deputy Prime Minister is among the five vying for the party presidency in today’s historic Umno polls, following the resignation of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak after Barisan Nasional’s general election disaster.

The others are Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, former Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and two relative unknowns – Bandar Tun Razak division committee member Mohamed Iqbal Maricair and Mohd Yusof Musa of the Iskandar Puteri division.

The Star sent Dr Ahmad Zahid, Khairy and Tengku Razaleigh a set of questions on their plans for the party should they win, but received responses from only Dr Ahmad Zahid and Khairy.

Dr Ahmad Zahid said he would re-examine the structure of Umno to make it more inclu- sive.

“Members should feel free to voice out any discontent, and the leadership must be ready to absorb it without any protocol or aloofness,” he said.

Khairy, in his response, said that one of his top priorities as president would be to travel to all 191 Umno divisions throughout the country for townhall-style discussions with the grassroots.

“We need to go back to basics and have real honest and intimate discussions for the survival of the party,” said Khairy, the former Umno Youth chief.

On the future of Barisan following the pullout of most of its 13 component parties with just Umno, MCA and MIC remaining, Dr Ahmad Zahid said Umno still regarded Barisan as being the best coalition.

He said he understood the feelings of component parties which had left.

“After the general election defeat, most parties left Barisan either due to frustration or to safeguard their interests,” he added.

Khairy said Umno must show that is it not only inclusive to the Malays but also accepting of other races.

“I believe that if Umno can achieve this, Barisan will rise up fortified and the Sabah and Sarawak parties will come back to us to rebuild the coalition,” he said.

On their message to all Malaysians, Dr Ahmad Zahid said: “We must make Umno the darling of Malaysian politics again. Our journey is winding and it won’t be easy, but Umno will rise again. God willing, we will be there for all Malaysians.”

Khairy said he wanted to ensure that Umno changed to become a party looked up to by all Malaysians.

“Umno will not just continue to safeguard the well-being of the Malays, but also those of the other races together with our friends in Barisan,” said Khairy.