Umno AGM ends with Zahid an embattled president

UMNO AGM | Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi remains an embattled leader as curtains fell on the 72nd Umno general assembly.

The AGM was Zahid's chance to unite the party after a factional split between the old guard and those who wished to reform Umno into a more progressive party following its defeat in the 14th general election.

Many had also wanted to know the party's future direction, on whether it would focus on becoming a strong opposition, or put hope in Zahid's plans to partner with any Pakatan Harapan components to form a unity government.

However, instead of uniting the party behind a solid plan forward, Zahid must continue to battle with internal opposition.

Things started to fall apart for Zahid after he left the matter of Umno's direction open in his policy speech on Saturday night.

There he pandered to calls for a more united opposition and possible cooperation with PAS, while also claiming that Harapan would reach out to Umno to form a government. 

This mixed messaging led to criticisms that the party lacked direction from the likes of Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin, who had challenged Zahid for the Umno presidency in July. 

"You said previously that we should fight the cruel Harapan government. Then you came out with a statement saying we were exploring opportunities via a JV (joint venture).

"You have to be clear as to which way you are leading the party," Khairy (photo) said.

Umno Youth had also voiced opposition to the unity government plan, with its chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki describing it as dishonourable. 

"I don't agree that our honour should be sold just to find a way to get power through the back door," Asyraf said.

Things did not improve for Zahid when his deputy Mohamad Hasan in his closing speech told delegates to "stop dreaming" about forming a unity government. 

Zahid did not take the criticism, especially those about Umno being directionless in stride.

Clearly agitated, Zahid spent over 10 minutes of his closing speech berating his critics, telling them to voice their disagreements to him personally instead of taking it public. 

And while he did back calls to focus on building a strong opposition force, Zahid refused to say that this was Umno's only option, believing that Umno should still style itself as a government-in-waiting. 

"We have to have that hope, whether it happens in five years, or tomorrow.

"We don't know what will happen in any by-election, and we don't know what will happen after any by-election. As we don't know, we must, therefore, have an open heart to accept any changes," he said.

Some support among the grassroots

Despite the opposition to his plans at the higher level, Zahid does appear to have some support among the grassroots.

Some Umno members Malaysiakini met had even warmed up to the possibility that party would join forces with PKR president-elect Anwar Ibrahim (photo) to form a government. 

Besides the lack of direction, Zahid's move to double down on Umno's ethnonationalism in his opening speech, and portraying the party and the Malays as besieged by other races may also spell trouble for the party. 

The move may benefit Umno's blooming partnership with PAS.

However, becoming more conservative may cause unease among progressive members who want the party to be more inclusive.

Khairy had warned in a BFM interview prior to the general assembly that if Umno swings too far to the right, that desertions may be possible.

"If it continues to change and morph into something that is unrecognisable, that would force many of us who are centrist within Umno to rethink our future.

"I hope it doesn’t get to that. I’m not interested in going anywhere else. Umno is my house," he had said.

If this were to happen, it could spell disaster for Umno which has already been hard hit by defections.

The party is down to just 49 MPs after five lawmakers quit. It is no longer the party with the highest representation in Dewan Rakyat, as it is now tied with PKR.

Umno veering to the right could also jeopardise its shaky partnership with long-term BN ally MCA, which did not attend the AGM. -Mkini

KL PWTC project may be renegotiated or sold, says Zahid

UMNO AGM | Umno is exploring the options in the development of 70-storey tower Kuala Lumpur Putra World Trade Centre (KL PWTC)  which will house the party’s new headquarters.

In a press conference today, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party may either renegotiate the project with a new partner or sell it to a third party.

"We have few options and we had discussed with the developers. It is either renegotiate with a new partner, have a joint venture or we sell it to a third party," he said.

It was reported by the New Straits Times on Sept 26 quoting Zahid as saying that the project, which will be built at the Putra Bus Terminal site, was put on hold until the negotiation completed.

Umno announced the project during its 70th anniversary in 2016.

The KL PWTC will house offices, a six-star hotel with 250 rooms, a two-storey shopping podium, a mosque that can accommodate a congregation of 5,000 people at any one time and restaurants, reported NST.

Earlier today, Zahid told Umno delegates that the party had endorsed him to immediately get back assets from the trustees who are holding them.

"The recovery of the assets will be brought to the management committee and presented to the supreme council in a transparent manner," he added.

After reading a report on party's assets and liabilities, he said Umno assets are not worth billions as some had perceived. -Mkini

KJ criticises because he loves Umno, says Bung

UMNO AGM | Umno supreme council member Bung Moktar Radin said Khairy Jamaluddin is being vocal because he loves the party.

Bung said Khairy has every right to criticise the party and its president as long as his criticism doesn't divide the party.

"He has his own views. Although some delegates see KJ's comments as cynical, they also must take note of what he said.

"This is because Umno has to be open for members to criticise. Umno cannot refrain from taking criticism from any of its members, including KJ," he told reporters after the closing of the Umno general assembly today.

Bung stressed that when a member criticises the party, it doesn't mean that he is not loyal.

"Khairy's criticism will not affect the image of the party. I believe his criticism came from his love for Umno," he said.

Meanwhile, Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob urged the Rembau MP to refrain from attacking the president openly as the party has other channels for him to express his dissatisfaction.

"Although he personally didn't agree with the party's policy, we must have a team spirit. We have to accept it although personally, we are against the collective decision.

"I hope we in the team use our platform to communicate. We have meetings with the president, closed-door dialogues and so on. No need to use the media to attack our leader," said Ismail.

He said the past leaders such as Muhyiddin Yassin and Mukhriz Mahathir were sacked from the party because they were openly against the president.

"I hope he (Khairy) returns to the team. A collective decision must be respected more than a personal decision.

"When we wanted to table the alternative budget, the individual chosen to be the chairperson was KJ. That means the president didn't hold grudges against him," he said. -Mkini

Najib lets tears flow as Umno assembly closes

UMNO AGM | Former Umno president Najib Abdul Razak could not hold back tears in the presence of Umno delegates at the Umno general assembly today.

After Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi delivered his winding-up speech for the session, all Umno delegates were told to stand up and sing the song “Teman Sejati” (“True Companion”).

It was then that Najib’s tears began to flow, though he managed to smile when several supporters asked him for a selfie.

In a Facebook post later, Najib apologised for losing his composure.

“All these had been a test from Allah, and now I know I am not alone. I have all of you with me giving strength and support.

“May Allah bless us all,” he added.

Although Najib no longer holds the party's top post, he was still well-received by delegates at the general assembly, some of whom urged “Continue the fight!”.

Najib, who is also the former prime minister and current Pekan Umno division chief, was seated on the third row of the hall together with other Pekan delegates.

Earlier, Zahid paid homage to Najib during his winding-up speech.

“He is willing to sit in the third row together with the delegates from Pekan. This is the spirit of a gracious former leader who is still with Umno,” he said.

His statement was greeted with cheers and applause by the delegates. - Mkini

Unity government? Issue closed, says Zahid

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the issue of the party becoming part of a unity government is "closed".

"No, no, unity government issue is closed, okay, as I explained just now in my closing speech," Zahid said at a press conference after the close of the Umno general assembly today.

He did not elaborate on what he meant.

Previously, Zahid had said that he is willing to partner Umno with any Pakatan Harapan party to form a unity government.

In his closing speech earlier, Zahid said that Umno will focus on becoming part of a strong opposition.

However, he said Umno must also be open to any possibilities of being a government in waiting, as anything can happen in any by-election.

"We have to strengthen the opposition movement with other parties. God willing, with the amount of support given to Umno-BN, added with that from our friends in the opposition, God willing we would have more than five million voters ready to be with us."

Zahid said the number of supporters may be even higher when added with voters who feel duped by the Harapan government.

"But some say that Umno being the government in waiting is not possible, but we must understand that there is no specific timeline (for us to become government).

"We have to have that hope, whether it happens in five years, or tomorrow.

"We don't know what will happen in any by-election, and we don't know what will happen after any by-election. As we don't know, we must therefore have an open heart to accept any changes," he said.

Zahid's push for a unity government was first revealed in an NSTP interview on Thursday.

Last night in his policy speech, he said that Harapan will eventually reach out to Umno as the coalition may break up anytime due to infighting.

However, there has been strong opposition in the party towards the unity government plan, even from his own deputy Mohamad Hasan.

Mohamad in his closing speech just before the president's, told delegates to stop dreaming about a unity government. -Mkini

Positive sentiments of Anwar among PD voters, says Fahmi

PD POLLS | The sentiments of Port Dickson residents on Pakatan Harapan candidate Anwar Ibrahim were seen positive based on an initial research conducted by PKR.

PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil said the research which is expected to be completed in a few days, is aimed at finding out the acceptance of the PKR de factoleader among local residents.

“For the initial research, we saw positive sentiments on Anwar among voters and many were ready to accept him as MP here, in fact, they were excited that he would be the eight prime minister.

“Apart from that, based on the presence of residents at the nomination day yesterday as well as party programmes on the first day of the campaign, we found the reception and interest of voters on PH was good and satisfactory,” he said at a media conference today.

Fahmi said all programmes for Anwar during the campaign period before polling day on Oct 13 would be stepped up using various approaches including house to house campaign.

He said campaign through social media would be fully utilised especially to call on 30 percent of Port Dickson voters residing outside to return home to vote.

Fahmi, who is Lembah Pantai MP, said the party was also stepping up monitoring on the possible dissemination of fake news on Anwar via social media during the campaign period.

He however said it occurred despite the initial warning and hoped the residents would not be easily influenced by such news.

The Port Dickson by-election is a seven-cornered fight involving Harapan, PAS and five Independent candidates including former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Isa Abdul Samad and Anwar's former personal assistant, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

- Bernama

Don't back me into a corner - Zahid warns critics, 'traitors'

UMNO AGM | Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has warned his critics in the party not to back him into a corner.

"I am an open person. But when I am pushed to the wall, my openness has its limits.

"I am Zahid Hamidi. I will put a full stop there," he said ominously in his closing speech at the Umno general assembly today.

"They know my DNA in this struggle. I don't want to reveal my true colours. If there is a tiger or lion in me, what comes out is a goat," he added.

He said those who sabotage the party from within are no longer just voicing disagreements, but are traitors. 

Zahid has faced criticisms over his opening speech last night, which some leaders including Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin have described as directionless on whether to be an opposition force or not.

In his speech, he said that he and the other party leaders have been given the mandate to lead the party.

As such those who feel the party is directionless should respect those who have been given the mandate and trust them to implement policies, the Umno chief added.

In a press conference later, Zahid said his remarks were general, and not aimed at any individuals.

He also said that critics in the party will not be sacked.

"I agree with the deputy president (Mohamad Hasan) that no action will be taken. I just ask them to stop disagreeing (publicly)," Zahid added.

He reiterated remarks in his speech that issues "in the bedroom" should not be aired publicly, and that his door is always open if there are any issues or disagreements that need to be raised.

Earlier in his speech, Zahid had also warned members against backdoor dealings to sabotage the party through defections. -Mkini