At the height of the anti-Malayan Union movement in 1946, 41 Malay organisations gathered at the Kelab Sultan Sulaiman, Kampung Baru in Kuala Lumpur to discuss their shared future.
The meeting led to the formation of Umno.
Now 72 years later, another meeting is set to take place at the historic clubhouse, where Umno will discuss its future after suffering its first ever electoral defeat during the May 9 polls.
The meeting on the night of June 11, will feature Umno veteran - and potential president candidate - Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as the keynote speaker.
The talk, titled 'Post GE14 Malay Dilemma', is meant to be a platform for Razaleigh to boost Umno's morale.
"Umno is facing multiple challenges after BN and Umno's defeat in GE14. While threading the first 100 days of the new Pakatan Harapan government, the Umno grassroots are worried about the new government's direction, especially on Malay rights and privileges.
"As such, the people, especially the Malays, want to hear the views of a great Umno leader that is Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who may inspire the Malays, especially those in Umno.
"When Onn Jaafar resigned (as the party's first president), Umno recovered to fight for Merdeka when it was picked up by Tunku Abdul Rahman.
"Now that Umno has lost another president (Najib Abdul Razak), will another prince, that is Razeleigh, help Umno achieve its struggles?" the event organiser's secretary Syahrin Md Jamaluddin told Malaysiakini.
The talk is organised by the Persatuan Belia Generasi Merdeka, and its advisor Bastien Onn - who is contesting for the Umno Youth vice-chief post - will be speaking before Razaleigh.
Umno is slated to hold party elections on June 30. While Razaleigh has yet to make any announcements, there are calls for him to contest the presidency.
A breaking of fast dinner at his residence in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday was reportedly meant to gauge how much support he has for the post.
Currently, the only contenders for the number one party post are de facto president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and blogger Rahmat Azim Abdul Aziz.
Razaleigh last challenged the Umno presidency in 1987, a contest which he lost by just 43 votes to then-president Dr Mahathir Mohamad. -Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.