DAP man lists 3 fundamental weaknesses of Umno

Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong lists the 'Najib factor' and economic conditions as working against BN in GE14.

KUALA LUMPUR: A DAP lawmaker has listed three fundamental weaknesses in Umno that he claims will cause the party’s downfall.

Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong says the “Najib Razak factor” is the first weakness of Umno despite the party president’s popularity in 2013.

“In the 2013 general election, the Najib brand was more popular than Barisan Nasional and Umno.

He said Najib’s popularity was consistent at 60% up until 2015 when the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) controversy emerged.

“Najib’s approval rating is now at about 30%.

“When voters walk into the polling booth in the next election, they know that the prime minister has taken money into his personal bank account and that matters a lot.

“Najib is going to be Umno’s greatest handicap,” he said through a video presentation on the DAP Facebook page.

Liew said the non-Malay factor is the second fundamental weakness of Umno.

“Since 2005, when Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein waved the keris and Umno turned to the right, non-Malays have no love for Umno.

“In the 2008 and 2013 elections, it has been shown acrross the board that non-Malay voters had rejected Umno and BN.

“In the coming election, as long as Pakatan Harapan can prove to all Malaysians that their interests will be taken care of, most of the non-Malays will continue to vote for PH.”

He pointed out economic discontent as the third fundamental weakness of Umno.

“The Najib government has consistently refused to acknowledge that ordinary Malaysians are living in economic hardship.

“At the recent Umno general assembly, Najib told the audience that the Malaysian economy is one of the best performing economies of the world.

“He quoted some selected statistics to show that everything is doing well.

“Najib even said that Umno will rule for a thousand years, but that doesn’t reflect the reality; it doesn’t reflect what ordinary Malaysians feel.

“When Sheila Majid tweeted the economic conditions of ordinary Malaysians, many Umno leaders commented.

“Some said she has no right to comment on the economy and one even claimed that inflation has happened since the time of the Prophet.”

Popular singer Sheila Majid had lamented on the high cost of living and the weak ringgit in a post on Twitter on Dec 5.

Her post was retweeted over 2,800 times and received more than 1,600 likes. It had also received about 70 comments, for and against her post, within four hours.

“Ordinary Malaysians are not happy with GST (goods and service tax), the rising cost of living, jobs and their pay, healthcare and many other economic issues facing them every day.

“There will be an uprising against Umno’s political elite because they do not understand the plight and feelings of ordinary Malaysians.”

Liew concluded that these three fundamental reasons were good enough to prove that the “end of Umno is near”. -FMT