DPM: Umno leaders need wisdom to solve urban woes

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KUALA LUMPUR: Umno leaders, especially those in urban areas, need to have a remarkable wisdom to solve the people’s woes, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said the wisdom was needed in search of solutions to urban woes as the expectations and demands of urban dwellers were different from that of the people in rural areas.

“What I mentioned is unusual. The challenges faced by political leaders in solving community problems are quite critical, and if they remain unsolved, then there will be problems for us as we will see waning support.

“This is the problem. Therefore, to become an Umno leader in a metropolitan area is not easy. It is easier to become the Pagoh division chief than the Setiawangsa division chief,” he said when opening the Setiawangsa Umno division delegates meeting here yesterday.

Muhyiddin, who is also Federal Territories Umno Liaison Committee chairman, said many people migrated to Kuala Lumpur with full of hopes of changing their lives but ended up in a quagmire.

“The problem here is certainly quite different with the people having high hopes and when their problems are not resolved, they get so angry,” he said.

Muhyiddin, who is also Umno deputy president, urged Umno leaders and members to take immediate action in changing the perception of the urban and rural communities towards Umno.

He said the changing political landscape since the last general election had created an anti-establishment mindset which was bound to stay.

Singling out the Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election, he said although Barisan Nasional (BN) wrested the seat from the opposition, the BN fared worse than in the 2008 general election in certain ballot boxes.

“If we make a simulation of what had happened in Setiawangsa, Hulu Selangor and elsewhere, the political scenario has changed with the people’s expectations no longer similar to before (the last general election). We are under siege.

“If we realise this is the risk we are facing, and that we want to change the perception of the urban and rural communities, we must take action quickly,” he said.

For this reason, he said Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and him had time and again reiterated the need to transform the party in efforts to restore the people’s support.

Muhyiddin said Umno leaders must champion the people and bring changes to the Malays and Bumiputeras.

“If we realise this is the risk we are facing, and that we want to change the perception of the urban and rural communities, we must take action quickly,” he said.

For this reason, he said Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and him had time and again reiterated the need to transform the party in efforts to restore the people’s support.

Muhyiddin said Umno leaders must champion the people and bring changes to the Malays and Bumiputeras.

“Although we hold delegates meeting in five-star hotels, this does not mean than Umno is an elitist party as after the meeting we will go back to our villages.

“Ours is a party which is down to earth, pragmatic and practical,” he said. ­— Bernama