SEREMBAN: Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin’s call for the party to scrap the no-contest policy for its top three posts should be supported if Umno is to bounce back from its humiliating 14th General Election (GE14) outing.
Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) Communication Programme senior lecturer, Dr Siti Suriani Othman said Umno could no longer continue with its old style of doing things if it wanted to win back confidence of the people.
She said Umno leaders needed to revive the party and restore its reputation which had been badly damaged.
“The only way to do so is to breathe new life into the party and restore its integrity.
“The reformation should not be confined to the top leadership but must also involve all members in the party if they want to regain trust of the people,” she said.
Siti Suriani said while the proposal for the no-contest policy to be scrapped would help spur the democratic process within the party, it may however lead to a split and contribute to the presence of different camps in Umno.
However, she said Umno must manage the problem in the bigger interest of the people and party.
She was commenting on Khairy’s statement that no Umno post should be considered sacred and that the past practice of having no contests against party leaders was among the reasons Umno had fared badly in GE14, winning only 54 parliamentary seats compared to 88 in 2013.
“It looked like we don’t provide the democratic space for our members. We’d better stop this nonsense of no-contest business,” he was quoted as saying.
Another Umno leader, Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin also shared Khairy’s views, noting that Umno had to change as the grassroots had also changed.
“Why should we stop anyone from contesting any posts?” he was quoted as saying.