KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has lambasted those who accused him of trying to attract public attention for wanting the transgender issue to be debated on, during the Umno General Assembly at the end of this month.
He said the general assembly held yearly was a platform for party members to debate on various current issues, including religious issues.
“If we cannot discuss religious issues at the Umno General Assembly, what else can we talk about,?” he asked at a press conference after opening the Sri Murugan Centre National Youth Convention at Perdana Siswa Complex, University of Malaya here yesterday.
A news portal yesterday reported that a political analyst saw Khairy’s intention to bring up the subject as the Youth wing’s move to champion the current hot issue at the assembly.
Khairy had reportedly said that he would raise the transgender issue during the general assembly after considering concerns of the youth that the issue could not be contained anymore, and the need for the public to know the party’s stand on the issue.
Earlier in his speech, he said that the responsibility to develop a nation did not rest on one race only, but all races should be involved, in line with the 1Malaysia slogan.
“We see the task of developing the nation as still pending. No one can say only one race is developing the nation, all races play a role,” he added. — Bernama