KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 – Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in UMNO General Assembly 2015 here on Thursday said that he would continue to lead UMNO and urged members to unite as one solid team to realise the party’s struggle for the Malay race and Malaysia.
Unflinching in his ‘heart to heart’ policy speech at the UMNO General Assembly 2015 here, the UMNO president and Prime Minister emphasised on the importance of loyalty and allegiance to the party leadership in good or challenging times. To critics in the party, Najib stressed that he would be a ‘gentleman’ and ‘non-confrontational’ and was prepared to sit down and discuss about resolving any confusion through the proper channel.
“I am human like everyone of you; we have our strengths and weaknesses. I…Najib Razak, need a loyal and dedicated Wanita, Pemuda and Puteri team…ASSIST ME…in spurring Malaysia forward to the apex. We will not allow UMNO’s struggle to be destroyed. We will remain resolute. Though there may be those who turn their backs on us…though we are pushed so we would fall…there shall be no retreat, no surrender,…no retreat!!! no surrender!!!” he said to thunderous applause from the floor.
Najib delivered his policy speech, awaited by UMNO members and Malaysians in general, with gusto amidst a sea of enthusiastic party die-hards in red, at Dewan Merdeka, Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here. Party delegates and guests gave Najib a standing ovation when he proclaimed that he would never concede though faced with mounting antagonism and challenges.
UMNO deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahtahir Mohamad who had been hurling criticisms at Najib were also present at the event. In the same tone, Najib also reminded the huge gathering in “UMNO’s house here”, that they were not merely UMNO members but UMNO itself.
“We are the pillars, the floor and walls, the frames and the windows, the tiled roof and the thatched roof, the pegs and the foundation, all working together, complementing each other to uphold our race, which is the embodiment of this sovereign party,” he said.
Drawing the delegates’ attention to the party’s slogan, ‘Bersatu, Bersetia dan Berkhidmat’, the UMNO president urged them to work in consensus to defend the Malay party. Although directing his message to the Malays and bumiputera in UMNO, Najib insisted he is Prime Minister not just for them but for the Malaysian society that comprises various races and religions.
He said the role of the party leadership and government is to serve every level of society in the country other than the Malays and Bumiputera. Of the trials he is presently facing, Najib said he would not merely defend his leadership but endeavour to resolve every issue besieging the party, “because I am not a coward”.
He said the time will come when the baton of leadership, so to speak, has to be passed on to someone else; he can’t just abandon the cause and drop of the mission without first resolving all the issues at hand. The prime minister also expressed confidence that issues such as 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion political fund would eventually be settled as he is in the right.
Recalling his experience as a politician and member of the administration, Najib stressed that he had never caused the downfall of anyone, “what more to betray UMNO”. On the UMNO leadership crisis in 1987, he said: “I chose with love and full of respect to stay loyal to the leadership of Tun Dr Mahathir, who was at the time defending his position as UMNO president and as Prime Minister.”
His frank admission received another resounding applause from the delegates. On the present scenario in UMNO as regards the party’s constitution, Najib said the responsibility of the deputy president and vice presidents was to assist the president in his role. As for UMNO members, their responsibility is to uphold the party’s policies and accomplish the set targets; they also have the right to present their views to the party albeit through the appropriate channel.
“Only by appreciating and being true to the constitution would UMNO as an organisation or assembly be capable of moving in a solid and perfect bond, guided by the party’s code of ethics. Malaysia would unlikely become a ‘failed state’ or a ‘welfare state’ under his leadership; the country’s competitiveness and various national and international achievements say it all,” said Najib.
He also pointed to UMNO’s achievement in changing the landscape of life for the Malays and bumiputera through producing hundreds of thousands of outstanding graduates who have since become intellectuals, technocrates, Islamic scholars and excellent entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, Najib expressed regret that certain quarters had acted in a manner which was tantamount to damaging and bringing down the Malay race and Malay civilisation. He also shared his experience in having to make a harsh and painful decision, which was collectively agreed to by the UMNO Supreme Council.
“As the saying goes, If you wish to please everybody, you will end up pleasing no one,” he said, referring to his Cabinet reshuffle. In the reshuffle last July, Muhyiddin and UMNO vice president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal were among the ministers who were relieved of their position.
In his speech, Najib also spoke about the attempts by certain quarters to overthrow the government, and quoted Masjidil Haram Fatwa Council member Sheikh Dr Sulaiman Saloomi that “such action was haram”. He said there was not to mention the street demonstrations where we saw people of other races stomping on the images of our Malay leaders.
On opposition Pakatan’s internal conflict, he said UMNO was relieved with PAS’ decision to leave it, and extends its ‘hand of friendship’ to the party towards building Malaysia based on the spirit of Islam. He also reminded UMNO members and Malays not to be influenced by attempts to establish a two-party system in the country. He said the political reality which it is that the Malaysian people only have two choices, which is, to join the coalition led by UMNO or the alliance dominated by DAP.
