Khairy: The progressives have triumphed

Khairy Jamaluddin has described his success in retaining his position as Umno Youth chief, which hasn't been made official at the time of writing, as a triumph of progressive ideas over those espoused by party conservatives.

His victory, which is virtually assured by a landslide based on the unofficial tally, will be an acknowledgement of the progressive forces within Umno Youth, Khairy told a brief conference at the tallying centre in Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) last night.

"If the win is a big win, it confirms that in some way I have succeeded in bringing progressive thought that has defeated the conservative forces in Umno," he said. 

Unofficial results show Khairy has bagged at least 115 of 191 divisions and as of 12am, all four of his four contenders have failed to pick up even one division.

He is leading in almost all divisions and could possibly pull off a clean sweep.

His challengers were Syed Rosli Syed Harman, Akhramsyah Muammar Ubaidah Sanusi, Irwan Ambak Khalid Izhar dan Abd Karim Ali.

'My opponents were regressive'

Khairy also expressed disappointment at some of his opponents who he said attempted to introduce regressive and conservative thinking to the party.

"I see the election this time as a battle between progressive thinking in our party and my opponents who unfortunately brought regressive thinking that is backward.

"So for me, if I succeed and is (officially) given the mandate by the grassroots, I feel this confirms that my approach and progressive thought is accepted by the grassroots.

Officially, Khairy will only be declared as a second-term Umno Youth chief at the earliest, by 4am as official results are trickling in painfully slow.

"Umno Youths need to continue to be at the forefront of change if I win," he said.