Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday put to rest speculation that Umno’s division and branch meetings were brought forward to make room for the 14th general election (GE14) to be held this year.
He said that the changing of the dates did not mean that national polls would be called at the end of this year.
“I would like to clarify that no assumption and speculation should be made that the early meetings dates is a sign of the 14th general election,” Najib posted on his blog najibrazak.com yesterday.
He also said it was not ‘unusual’ for the annual Umno meetings to be held early as Malaysia would be hosting the SEA Games and the Hari Raya Aidilfitri would be in June.
Najib however reminded the Barisan Nasional (BN) machinery to stay vigilant as well as be attuned to the needs and wishes of the people ahead of the elections.
“I don’t want the Umno and BN machinery to be complacent and take our task lightly.
“We must always focus on delivering, fulfilling our promises and listening to the pulse of the people,” he added.
“I hope the Umno divisions or branches would put in more effort and resolve disputes that may be detrimental to the party. Use the conventions to discuss and settle problems faced by the people.
“We must always be ready and make sure that we are prepared to serve the people and country,” he said.
Najib said the Umno supreme council meeting last Friday decided that the Umno branch and divisional meetings this year would be held much earlier.
Last week, the Umno supreme council decided that the party’s branch meetings would be held from March 17 to April 30, while the divisional meetings would be held from April 7 to Aug 26.
Many political observers have speculated that GE14 could be called towards the end of this year, before the end of BN’s current mandate next year.