SHAH ALAM: Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is not the right candidate for the Umno presidency, said state Umno Youth chief Zainuri Zakaria today.
He said the Gua Musang member of parliament, who is fondly known as Ku Li, would not be able to rebuild the party if he became president.
“Umno needs a strong candidate to help the party regain its strength and motivation after losing in the 14th General Election (GE14),” Zainuri told the New Straits Times today.
“Ku Li is not the right leader to capture the votes in the next general election. Should he be elected president, Umno will not be able to beat Pakatan Harapan.
“Besides, what has he done for the party, his constituency and the people?
“He did nothing. Do you see any changes or developments in Gua Musang?
“The Umno grassroots need to think wisely before electing the president.”
Zainuri noted that the 81-year-old veteran politician and former finance minister had lost to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the contest for the Umno presidency in 1987.
Ku Li then left Umno and founded Parti Melayu Semangat 46, which was disbanded in 1996.
“What happened to Semangat 46? He failed to uphold the party. This is not a quality of a leader,” Zainuri said.
“We need someone young who can bring new ideas to the table and is capable of going against Pakatan Harapan – a people’s leader who can win back the rakyat’s trust for Umno.
“Ku Li is not Dr M, so we cannot say Ku Li will be as capable as Dr M.”
However, state Umno liaison committee deputy chairman Datuk Mat Nadzari Ahmad Dahlan said Umno must respect Ku Li’s decision to contest for the post of president.
“It is not wrong to bank on an old-timer as long as the majority of Umno members support him,” he said.
“But, we must also listen to the younger generation who want a total change.”
Ku Li today announced that he had offered himself as a candidate for the Umno presidency.