Not speaking the truth on Najib is my 'biggest mistake' - Khairy

The "mistake" of not speaking the truth in order to protect former Umno president Najib Abdul Razak is one he will have to live with for the rest of his life, said party Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin.

In an interview with Channel News Asia, the Rembau MP said he wished that he had told Najib that the grassroots had rejected Umno, after former deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin and vice-president Mohd Shafie Apdal, were "purged" from the party.

"We didn't want to bell the cat. Nobody, after Muhyiddin was purged, after Shafie was purged... Nobody wanted to acknowledge we have a problem. That was a terrible mistake on our part.

"Was there a signal? Yes, there were clear signals but we became oblivious to the signals.

"This must not happen again, we must not ever allow our leaders in Umno to be detached from reality and not ask tough questions. If we continue with our feudal mindset of protecting the leader from the truth, Umno will go extinct,” he was quoted saying.

Both Muhyiddin and Shafie were dropped from Najib's cabinet line-up after they publicly criticised him over the 1MDB scandal.

Muhyiddin made a comeback by becoming the president of Umno-splinter party Bersatu, which became a component of the Pakatan Harapan coalition, while Shafie helmed Parti Warisan Sabah.  

Harapan is now the federal government, with Muhyiddin holding the post of the home minister-designate, while Shafie is the Sabah chief minister.

The new federal government, led by Harapan chairperson and prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has reopened investigations into 1MDB, and Najib and his wife have been barred from leaving the country.

Several other senior government officials under the previous administration have also been slapped with travel bans and subjected to transfers.

With PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim set to be released from prison tomorrow, Khairy acknowledged that BN - now the opposition - must get ready to face both him and Mahathir in the "political wilderness".

"We have to be ready. We are up against two giants, to big beasts in the political world. We have to make sure we are ready.

"Malaysians have chosen two giants to lead us; our challenge is to make sure we can play the role of checks and balances against the government.

"I am an ant against the two giants, and I have to make sure I can think quickly and move quickly in the next five years," said Khairy.

Anwar will be released after serving five years on a sodomy charge, which he insists was politically motivated. -Mkini