Umno needs to apologise to Malaysians, says Ku Li

The Umno veteran says the party has been complacent and shirked its responsibilities as leaders.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (second from left) with Penang Umno leaders here today. With him are Penang Umno secretary Musa Sheikh Fadzir (left), Wanita Umno vice-chief Norliza Abdul Rahim (second right) and Permatang Pauh Umno division chief Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said.

BUTTERWORTH: Umno presidential candidate Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah today said the party, from its grassroots leaders to the top leadership, needed to apologise to Malaysians for the wrong it had done.

The Umno veteran said this was in line with Malaysian culture, and that Islam taught them to say sorry for any wrongs they had committed.

“If I can influence the party members, through a consensus, I would like to arrange for all branches and divisions to apologise to all Malaysians for the wrongs we have done, which caused them to be angry with us.

“We have been complacent, and we have shirked our responsibilities as leaders. This has angered Malaysians.

“We need to say sorry to them so that we can foster better relations with them,” he said in his speech to Penang Umno delegates in Seberang Jaya, near here, today.

Tengku Razaleigh said he saw no reason why Umno could not apologise, and that he was of the view that Malaysians would forgive the party.

“We must do that. It is our duty to do so,” he said.

The battle for the Umno presidency will see the Gua Musang MP going up against Khairy Jamaluddin and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, among others. Party elections are set to take place this Saturday.

This will be the second time Tengku Razaleigh, who is better known as Ku Li, is contesting the presidency. He first did so in 1987, against then-Umno president and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Earlier in his speech, Tengku Razaleigh said Umno had lost badly in the 14th general election, demonstrating a clear rejection by the people, adding that the party was now looked down upon by some.

“The morale is down. Some have told me they have no more fire in them to meet people. Others said they do not want to get involved in politics.

“I feel sad. We did not suffer a small defeat. We lost badly. If previously we lost in Kelantan, we managed to gain Terengganu. But this time we lost power in the whole country except for Sarawak. We managed to retain the smallest state in the country (Perlis) and the biggest state in the peninsula (Pahang).

“For sure, the morale will be low.”

The Gua Musang MP said there were still some who were in denial and refused to accept that the party had been rejected by the people.

“Some people think it is business as usual, that we still have power and we are still influential.

“But things have changed. It is really bad now. We lost so many states. We need to wake up and think things through carefully.” - FMT