Najib: Umno faces ouster
(AP) KUALA LUMPUR – MALAYSIA'S incoming prime minister has warned that the ruling party – heavily weakened by election losses and infighting – is at a crossroads and may lose power if it doesn't reform, tackle graft and serve the people.
In a rare interview published on Sunday, just days before taking over the top job, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak also indicated a decades-old affirmative action program for ethnic Malays should be reviewed to ensure it is more equitable to the minority Chinese and Indians.
'We have been in power for the past 50 years and now we are at the crossroads … although we have been dominant for more than 50 years, it is no guarantee that we will continue to do so,' he said in the interview with the New Sunday Times, Berita Minggu and Mingguan Malaysia newspapers.
The joint interview with the three government-linked newspapers is an attempt to shore up the plunging popularity of the United Malays National Organisation, the main pillar of the ruling National Front coalition.
Umno will hold a key five-day meeting starting on Tuesday to elect a fresh batch of leaders. Mr Najib is contesting the post of party president unopposed. By tradition, the party president becomes the prime minister.
He will replace Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is stepping down after five years in power to accept responsibility for Umno's dismal showing in the March 2008 general elections.
'We need to undertake reforms, be it in the party or government, as the people have given us the signals at the last general election to change. If we are not brave enough to change, we will be changed by the people,' Mr Najib said in the interview.
The National Front lost its traditional two-thirds majority in Parliament for the first time in 40 years, and conceded control of five states to the opposition alliance of Anwar Ibrahim. The Front regained control of one state through defections in the state assembly, which further angered the public.
Umno, which has been in power since independence in 1957, is widely perceived as corrupt and inefficient by all races, including the Malays who form its main power base. Its leaders are considered out of touch with the people, especially the minorities who see them as racists responsible for fueling a religious and ethnic divide. — AP
