ID :
41491
Mon, 01/19/2009 - 15:06
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/41491
The shortlink copeid
BRING BACK "WOW" FACTOR IN UMNO: MINISTER
From Muin Abdul Majid
MANAMA (Bahrain), Jan 19 (Bernama) -- In a frank analysis of what ails
United Malays National Organisation (Umno)in the wake of Barisan Nasional's (BN)
defeat in the east coast Kuala Terengganu by-election, International Trade and
Industry minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the party has lost the "wow" factor that
would pull people to the coalition's backbone party.
Muhyiddin, who is the Umno vice-president said there was a need to bring it
back because having the wow factor would mean that people would sit up and take
notice of something new and interesting that the party was conveying.
"Currently, in Umno, what's the wow factor? There is no wow factor. We have
lost the wow factor that would make people say 'I really want to listen to what
the leaders are saying'," Muhyiddin told Malaysian journalists when asked to
comment on the polls last Saturday where Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut of Islamist
Parti Islam seMalaysia (PAS) beat the BN's Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh by 2,631
votes.
The International Trade and Industry minister stressed the necessity for
Umno and BN to be reinvented to fulfil the people's aspirations without
sacrificing Umno's principles and struggle.
"Party president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his designated successor, Najib
Tun Razak, would need to institute a radical change, a political surgery, if you
will," he said.
Muhyiddin said it would be well and good to conduct a post-mortem to
ascertain weaknesses that contributed to the electoral defeat in Kuala
Terengganu but what was more important was to dig deeper into the minds of
voters.
"There are bound to be weaknesses in any by-election despite the party
machinery having gone full throttle. But maybe this is a signal that must be
taken seriously.
"Does it mean that the people still find it hard to accept the BN after we
lost in the last general election because they don't feel that there has been
any change or reform as promised," he said.
Muhyiddin said that for this reason, the BN and Umno especially should not
take too long to implement the reforms that they had promised.
The important thing was for Umno and the BN to tackle certain perceptions in
the voters' minds.
"Mention Umno or the BN and that's the perception the people have, and this
is twisted by the opposition parties.
"We also cannot discount the possibility that our citizens now have a better
grasp of things, are more sensitive and are able to make assessments from all
angele.
"Maybe we are seen as not being ready to accommodate what they think is
good," he said, adding that Umno and the BN should be willing to act more
radically in implementing the necessary changes. Muhyiddin stressed that certain
statements had to be made so that the people would understand the reforms that
Umno and the BN intended to bring.
"Otherwise, they will regard our statements as rhetoric. I'm more inclined
to analyse the by-election results from a more holistic perspective although we
can identify the cause of the defeat the normal way, like ineffective election
machinery despite the hard work, the choice of candidate and the issues raised
by the opposition," he said.
In the past, he said, the BN would take by-elections in its stride, winning
in constituencies that were considered problematic.
Muhyiddin said he had received views from various parties who had expressed
concern that BN defeat in by-elections had become a new trend because the people
still had not seen any reform by the BN and Umno.
"Let us do some serious soul-searching. Maybe the people will be angry at me
for saying this. Some leaders will say that it's not the trend, but we don't
know," he added.
He said the government parties must really understand what the people want
because it is the people who determine the result of an election.
"We have to be truthful to ourselves. We should not be complacent,saying
that we are Okay. This is our problem.
"The word is 'change quickly'. In three or four years there'll be more
by-elections, the state elections. Where do we stand," he said.
Besides Umno, the BN's other component parties should also take stock of the
situation as they too were having problems of their own, he added.
-- BERNAMA
MANAMA (Bahrain), Jan 19 (Bernama) -- In a frank analysis of what ails
United Malays National Organisation (Umno)in the wake of Barisan Nasional's (BN)
defeat in the east coast Kuala Terengganu by-election, International Trade and
Industry minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the party has lost the "wow" factor that
would pull people to the coalition's backbone party.
Muhyiddin, who is the Umno vice-president said there was a need to bring it
back because having the wow factor would mean that people would sit up and take
notice of something new and interesting that the party was conveying.
"Currently, in Umno, what's the wow factor? There is no wow factor. We have
lost the wow factor that would make people say 'I really want to listen to what
the leaders are saying'," Muhyiddin told Malaysian journalists when asked to
comment on the polls last Saturday where Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut of Islamist
Parti Islam seMalaysia (PAS) beat the BN's Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh by 2,631
votes.
The International Trade and Industry minister stressed the necessity for
Umno and BN to be reinvented to fulfil the people's aspirations without
sacrificing Umno's principles and struggle.
"Party president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his designated successor, Najib
Tun Razak, would need to institute a radical change, a political surgery, if you
will," he said.
Muhyiddin said it would be well and good to conduct a post-mortem to
ascertain weaknesses that contributed to the electoral defeat in Kuala
Terengganu but what was more important was to dig deeper into the minds of
voters.
"There are bound to be weaknesses in any by-election despite the party
machinery having gone full throttle. But maybe this is a signal that must be
taken seriously.
"Does it mean that the people still find it hard to accept the BN after we
lost in the last general election because they don't feel that there has been
any change or reform as promised," he said.
Muhyiddin said that for this reason, the BN and Umno especially should not
take too long to implement the reforms that they had promised.
The important thing was for Umno and the BN to tackle certain perceptions in
the voters' minds.
"Mention Umno or the BN and that's the perception the people have, and this
is twisted by the opposition parties.
"We also cannot discount the possibility that our citizens now have a better
grasp of things, are more sensitive and are able to make assessments from all
angele.
"Maybe we are seen as not being ready to accommodate what they think is
good," he said, adding that Umno and the BN should be willing to act more
radically in implementing the necessary changes. Muhyiddin stressed that certain
statements had to be made so that the people would understand the reforms that
Umno and the BN intended to bring.
"Otherwise, they will regard our statements as rhetoric. I'm more inclined
to analyse the by-election results from a more holistic perspective although we
can identify the cause of the defeat the normal way, like ineffective election
machinery despite the hard work, the choice of candidate and the issues raised
by the opposition," he said.
In the past, he said, the BN would take by-elections in its stride, winning
in constituencies that were considered problematic.
Muhyiddin said he had received views from various parties who had expressed
concern that BN defeat in by-elections had become a new trend because the people
still had not seen any reform by the BN and Umno.
"Let us do some serious soul-searching. Maybe the people will be angry at me
for saying this. Some leaders will say that it's not the trend, but we don't
know," he added.
He said the government parties must really understand what the people want
because it is the people who determine the result of an election.
"We have to be truthful to ourselves. We should not be complacent,saying
that we are Okay. This is our problem.
"The word is 'change quickly'. In three or four years there'll be more
by-elections, the state elections. Where do we stand," he said.
Besides Umno, the BN's other component parties should also take stock of the
situation as they too were having problems of their own, he added.
-- BERNAMA
