KANGAR: Kangar Umno Youth wing views that the party is going backwards and becoming irrelevant in not allowing certain positions to be contested in the coming party election.
Kangar Umno Youth chief Hamizan Hassan, who is also the Kayang state assemblyman, said the move clearly showed that Umno was controlled by certain individuals and was not fair to all members.
“Before a party wishes to change a country, it (Umno) must first change itself to remain relevant in the eyes of the people before coming into power again.
“In the current situation, personally I do not agree that certain positions such as president, deputy president and vice president should not be allowed to be contested,” he said when contacted.
According to Hamizan, Umno revival will not happened if the positions were prohibited from being contested.
He also welcomed Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar’s proposal for all positions in the party to be contested.
“Before this grassroots voices were not heard and at the same time the changes that we wish to see in Umno did not run smoothly,” he said.
Hamizan said that a survey carried out at Umno branches in the state showed that the majority agreed for all positions in the party to be contested in the coming party election.
“If the positions are not contested it clearly shows that Umno is exclusive for top leaders and not for the members.
“If we have been saying that Umno listens to grassroots’ voices, and the action (not allowing to contest) still continues, it proves that Umno now is no different to before,” he said.
Khairy was reported rejecting suggestions that certain positions in the party should not be contested in the coming party elections.
Such suggestions, he said, should not exist in Umno any longer if it wished to remain relevant and make a return to appeal to the people.
This mode of thinking, he said, was among the reasons why Barisan Nasional, spearheaded by Umno, failed in the 14th General Election (GE14).