Rafidah: Personal vendettas won’t resolve national issues

Rafidah Aziz says Umno’s personal vendetta against some members must stop because it only detracts from issues of national interest that must be resolved.

PETALING JAYA: The Umno leadership must immediately stop its “personal vendetta” against some of its members as this has only served to detract from the real issues of national interest that are dragging the country down, said Rafidah Aziz.

The former Wanita Umno chief and Cabinet minister said she was increasingly concerned with the goings-on in Umno, that in her opinion were getting too “personal” with some members having come under scrutiny for having differing viewpoints.

She pointed out that as an Umno member for 50 years, she saw how managing differences of opinions could actually galvanise the party and make it more resilient.

She also remarked how the differing viewpoints being uttered by a few were not of a personal nature but concerned issues of national interest.

“The issues have to do with the question of governance and are of interest and concern to the rakyat e.g. 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad) and such issues.

“People must take the personal, individual factor out of the equation,” she said in a message on Facebook.

She said that failing to do so would only detract from the real issues at hand that required urgent attention and concerted efforts to resolve quickly.

Remarking that action spoke louder than mere words, she added, “And action does not mean exterminating dissent and differences of views and expressions of opinion.

“It simply means taking the bull by the horns and to expeditiously deal with the issues which are slowly dragging the country down.”

She also said it would be a “terrible mistake” if a leader chose only to hear the voices of his supporters who tended to say only what they thought their leaders wanted to hear.

“Very few personal supporters want to stick their necks out to say anything different,” she said, adding that in politics it was the norm not to question or show dissent.

She beseeched the party leadership to get down to the business of “resolving issues” for the sake of the people and to show them that Umno was still guided by “integrity, transparency and national interest.”