MUAR: Umno leaders elected in the party divisional and supreme council elections yesterday will face bigger challenges as they are elected to represent the grassroots and the ‘pulse’ of the Malays.
Party deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the next four years before the 14th General Election would be a real challenge for them to win over the Malay voters, especially from the young generation.
“All those elected should know that they assume the posts not solely because they were elected but were also wanted by the party grassroots to represent the Malay community.
“They want leaders who are courageous, firm, contistent and not only highly-educated but brave in facing the challenges that come. These leaders are given a bigger trust and responsibility to listen to the woes of the party members,” he said in his winding-up speech at the Pagoh Umno division delegates’ meeting, here yesterday.
Muhyiddin said this was an important reminder for those elected that there were party members who determined their fate in the Umno elections, hence they needed to go down not just to their division but to all its branches to listen to the grassroots.
He said many people felt that the new Umno election system was the best medium to eradicate money politics in the party, but actually this was not the main objective.
Instead, he said, the new system was vital in empowering the party members by having 145,000 delegates nationwide instead of about 2,800 deciding on the outcome of the party elections. — Bernama