KUALA LUMPUR, February 2 – Former UMNO Youth Leader, Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar said, Malays already have other alternatives as a backup for the defense of race and religion. He said, they no longer think that the issue will not be defended without UMNO and the Malays are already looking for another forum that can fight for it. Because of that, he still insists that for UMNO to remain relevant, the party should open competitions at every level, especially for the position of President.
“If the winner is Zahid (Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi), it is Zahid, but there has to be a mandate because without a mandate from the members, how do we explain to the people, especially the Malays, that we want to bring change? “While today’s Malays say, “You don’t even dare to hold elections for President and Deputy President, you don’t dare to bring change, you don’t dare to give members the right to choose leaders, what change are you talking about?”
At the same time, he insisted that he was not at all sullen with UMNO even though the party he loved had ousted him. Khairy explained that his friends are still in the Supreme Council of the party and even many of them defend him and voice their disapproval of his dismissal. “But that is the President’s prerogative,” he said in the Agenda Awani program on Tuesday.
