PETALING JAYA: Umno is in need of drastic changes or risks becoming disconnected from the younger generation, especially after its severe defeat at the last general election (GE15), says party vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He urged the Umno leadership to immediately draw up a strategy focusing on wooing young and first-time voters at the next general election, if it did not want the party to be ousted by the people “forever”, Utusan Malaysia reported.
“If we don’t change, the youth that already rejected us (in GE15) will continue to reject us,” he was quoted as saying.
The former prime minister was referring to youths who are now eligible to vote after the law on lowering the voting age to 18 and automatic voter registration was passed in 2021.
Umno won only 26 parliamentary seats in GE15, marking its lowest-ever representation in the Dewan Rakyat.
The party has since announced a slew of dismissals and suspensions, with former Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin and former Selangor Umno chief Noh Omar sacked last month for breaching party discipline during GE15.
Former vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein and former information chief Shahril Hamdan were suspended for six years.
Commenting on this, Ismail said Umno was regressing and sent the wrong message to the youth by sacking and suspending a number of its leaders.
“We gave the wrong message, which is that Umno has no democracy. That is the current perception of the party,” he said.
Ismail said the youth wanted to see leaders such as Khairy, who were not afraid to criticise or speak up against the party.
He added that the youth also wanted to join a party that did not restrict their freedom. FMT
Zahidi now eyes joining Amanah
PETALING JAYA: Former Umno Supreme Council member Zahidi Zainul Abidin says he is now considering joining Amanah, having received some negative feedback to his earlier comments on wanting to join PKR.
He said the grassroots in Padang Besar had suggested he join Amanah to stand a better chance at helping the constituents, especially when it came to the agriculture sector, Harian Metro reported.
“We are waiting for a proposal from the grassroots to be presented to the Amanah leadership,” he was quoted as saying.
Last Monday, Zahidi said he would be submitting his PKR membership form on Feb 4. He also claimed that several national-level Umno leaders would be doing so, too.
The former Padang Besar MP was then reported to have said that he chose to align himself with Pakatan Harapan (PH) as his former party and the coalition were now part of the unity government.
He added that he opted against joining Perikatan Nasional (PN), because if any of his friends from Umno met with him, they risked getting sacked.
However, Perlis PKR deputy chief Asrul Nizan Abd Jalil then cautioned the party against accepting former Umno leaders, such as Zahidi, as it could disrupt relations between PKR and Umno, who are partners in the unity government.
Asrul was reported to have said allowing former Umno members to join PKR could also upset the party’s grassroots, adding that PKR should be careful not to accept members who did not meet its standards.
Zahidi was sacked by Umno last November after standing as an independent candidate in the 15th general election (GE15), having been dropped by the party.
However, the former deputy communications and multimedia minister failed to defend his Padang Besar seat, getting only 1,939 votes and losing his deposit, in a five-cornered fight that was won by PN’s Rushdan Rusmi. FMT
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