Long road still ahead for Umno
“Umno is still playing racial lines. This is too obvious. If it’s Chinese, it’s MCA; Indians, then MIC. We are still too communal in our thinking, while PR covers all, beyond racial lines,” Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed told The Malaysian Insider.
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider
Despite Barisan Nasional (BN) winning last Sunday’s Hulu Selangor by-election, Umno politicians and analysts believe the leading Malay party needs major reforms to maintain its relevance to the younger generation of voters.
Anecdotal accounts from Hulu Selangor revealed a majority of voters in the federal seat had backed BN, but younger voters who work outside of the constituency opted for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) instead in the by-election. MIC information chief P. Kamalanathan scraped through with 1,725 votes despite a multi-million ringgit campaign.
“Umno is still playing racial lines. This is too obvious. If it’s Chinese, it’s MCA; Indians, then MIC. We are still too communal in our thinking, while PR covers all, beyond racial lines,” Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed told The Malaysian Insider.
The erudite Umno man said the party was currently in a flux as it was still playing the race card at a time when voters have begun moving past communal-based politics.
“At this rate, if Umno maintains its present party structure, it is not the party for the future,” said the International Trade and Industry Minister.
He also pointed out the apparent divide in Hulu Selangor that mirrored the country, with those living in “remote, rural” areas voting for BN while those who wanted “better education and more freedom” would vote for PR.
However, Mustapa remained non-committal on whether there was still time for Umno to change its current mindset before the next general election, which could be held as early as next year.
“I am not too sure,” he said.
Kamalanathan defeated PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim in the by-election, the country’s 10th since Election 2008. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak personally led the campaign that promised compensation for Felda settlers and RM3 million for a Chinese primary school.
Another Umno member, Pulai MP Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed claimed that the party’s top leadership was facing a “mind block” and it was still stuck in its old way of getting things done.
Nur Jazlan, who unsuccessfully ran for the Umno No 2 post in 2007, declared BN would have again lost Hulu Selangor had it not been for Najib visiting the federal seat the size of Malacca.
“Northern Selangor is traditionally an Umno stronghold area.. (But) Umno has been around for too long, the campaign by the opposition against Umno is tremendously effective.
“Despite Umno’s large machinery in Hulu Selangor, it didn’t really work. They were weak. We would have lost if the PM hadn’t stepped up to the plate,” Nur Jazlan told The Malaysian Insider.
The Pulai Umno division leader felt that the new generation of voters will no longer vote for BN as their parents did in the past, but they will “vote for PR” because they no longer identified with Umno’s old formula.
