As 150,000 Umno delegates vote today, Ku Li calls for cleanup of the party

All set: Workers preparing the stage for the Subang Umno division meeting at PWTC.

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 150,000 delegates will be voting for the chiefs of three wings – Youth, Wanita and Puteri today.

Delegates from over 20,000 party branches would be casting their votes at their respective division meetings, party information chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa said.

Vote counting would be done at the meeting venues, with the final tabulation expected to be completed by night.

Annuar said representatives from the party headquarters would be sent to the meetings to monitor the proceedings.

.In an interview with Astro Awani yesterday, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is the vice-president handling the duties of the president, said the reality that Umno had to face was the experience of its defeat on May 9.

He said Umno also had to acknowledge the present Government and give it a chance to prove itself in the first 100 days to roll out what it promised through the Pakatan Harapan manifesto.

The former deputy prime minister also said that Umno had to pay a hefty price when the Malays were no longer united.

“At the same time, the reality is we have 54 seats in Parliament and our popular vote is around 46%.

“This shows an increase from the 13th General Election, meaning that the Malays in general still prefer Umno and Barisan Nasional.

“But maybe the non-conventional approach taken by our political rivals have given them the edge, such as their decision to use a common logo,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bernama quoted Umno veteran leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as saying that the party had to undergo a clean-up and renewal to redeem itself.

The Gua Musang division chief, who is contesting the party presidency on June 30, said the party must give priority to changing its leadership style as Umno leaders had been labelled by the people as “arrogant, too elitist and difficult to make appointments with”.

Saying that he would highlight these should he be elected as party president, Tengku Razaleigh, 81, said such an approach could be the “cure” to the people's perception of the party.

“We want to ensure that the party's policies can cure Umno, particularly in the aspect of integrity which was previously viewed less favourably by society.

“(Umno leaders and members must) try to behave, not engage in things disliked by the people, such as corruption and so on,” he told reporters after a meet-and-greet session with Selangor Umno leaders and representatives on Thursday night.

Besides Tengku Razaleigh, four others are vying for the No. 1 post.

Asked whether the “clean-up” in Umno should also involve a change of positions, Tengku Razaleigh said it was up to the division and branch delegates as he was now convinced that the grassroots were well aware of the rabble-rousers in the party.

Asked how long it would take for Umno to recover following Barisan Nasional’s defeat in the 14th General Election, Tengku Razaleigh said the road to recovery would depend on the people's response to the members' activities.- Star