THAT’S RIGHT, RUTHLESS MAHATHIR WILL SWALLOW YOU GUYS IN ONE BIG GOBBLE: ‘NO NEED FOR BACKDOOR TALKS TO JOIN GOVT’ – KHAIRY TICKS OFF LAZY & STILL GREEDY UMNO WARLORDS

KUALA LUMPUR – Umno’s president should not form a government by means of “backdoor discussion”.

Instead, he should lead the party in becoming an effective opposition in the country.

Umno presidential candidate Khairy Jamaluddin said, the party must form a shadow Cabinet so that it can be a voice for the people in determining if Pakatan Harapan had fulfilled all of its promises.

“I don’t want to be a president who uses shortcuts by discussing with the government using the backdoor. This is unnecessary. We do not need to beg for life from them (Pakatan Harapan).

“Aside from openness, if I am chosen as the new president, the first thing I will do is to form a shadow Cabinet as a preparation,” he said during a live telecast of Debat Awani tonight.

The debate also saw the participation of two other Umno president candidates, Gua Musang Member of Parliament Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Tengku Razaleigh on the other hand said, two drastic changes would be carried out if he won the presidency.

“Firstly, for the past 20 years, Umno had been controlled by the higher ups to the extent those at the lower level could not voice out. I suggest for this matter to be changed and to let those at the lower level to be able to influence the higher ups.

“I suggest for a combination of young people and old people because the youth are energetic, more productive and have more exposure in order for them to move forward while the elderly can guide them,” he said.

Meanwhile, Zahid firmly said that Umno can never be opened to other races because the party belonged to only the Malays and Bumiputera.

“The first thing we need to think about is what can we offer to Umno members. We have to untangle all of the problems in Umno so that the party’s spirit can be returned.

“Umno was made illegal before which led to the formation of Umno 2.0 and now is the time for Umno 3.0 and Barisan Nasional too need to be rebranded. I want to see all of the content, soul and spirit to be returned,” he said.

Tomorrow (June 30), some 165,000 Umno delegates would be voting across 191 divisions to choose its new president, deputy president, three vice-presidents, supreme council members as well as its new permanent chairman and his deputy.

Others who were vying for the presidency include Bandar Tun Razak committee member Mohamed Iqbal Maricair and Iskandar Puteri member Mohd Yusof Musa @ Jamaluddin.

Last week , the party chose its new wing leaders where Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki was voted as the new Umno Youth chief, new Wanita chief is Datuk Dr Noraini Ahmad and Datuk Zahida Zarik Khan was chosen as the new Puteri chief.

– NST