NAJIB REGIME SCREWS UP AGAIN? NO SIGN OF UMNO INVITED TO SPEAK AT CHINA’S COMMUNIST PARTY CONGRESS, AGENDA SHOWS

It is still unclear as to whether Umno will be speaking at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (NCCPC) which kicked off yesterday.

Earlier this month, Umno’s official website quoted Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor claiming that Malaysia was one of six countries invited to speak at the congress.

He also expressed appreciation for the close relationship between Umno and the Communist Party of China (CPC) and said the invitation was an acknowledgment of Umno’s achievement.

However, checks on the NCIPC’s itinerary did not reveal any information to support Tengku Adnan’s claims.

Malaysiakini has been unsuccessful in repeated attempts to contact Tengku Adnan for details for several days.

When contacted, both Umno information chief Annuar Musa and BN strategic communications director Abdul Rahman Dahlan were unable to comment and advised Malaysiakini to speak to Tengku Adnan.

Political scientist and expert on China’s political development Phoon Wing Keong expressed doubts that an Umno representative would be addressing the NCCPC.

He said that if Umno was indeed, then it was likely they were invited as observers rather than speakers.

“I don’t believe Umno will be speaking at the event. In the past, I have never seen foreign political parties speaking at the NCCPC,” he said when contacted.

He said that the CPC’s international department central committee is in charge of contacting political parties abroad.

“If the committee invites foreign political parties to be observers at the event, this could be possible.

“This is like Umno’s annual congress, which also invites CPC delegates and other parties as observers, but not as speakers,” he said.

Phoon said it was possible that the CPC invited Umno to attend events held at the sidelines of the NCCPC.

“Perhaps it could be small forum or meeting for foreign political parties,” he said.

The NCCPC will, which began yesterday, will convene until next Tuesday.

The quinquennial meeting will see 2,280 delegates electing a new central committee and disciplinary committee.

– M’kini