Khairy blushing over delegates’ crude remarks
However the Umno Youth chief says it is unfair to allow the remarks of “one or two” delegates taint an otherwise “quality” debate session.
(Free Malaysia Today) – Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin conceded that some of the remarks made by the delegates in attacking the opposition at its AGM here today were inappropriate.
The Rembau MP was forced to admit and defend them despite having earlier boasted of his wing’s progressive shift in mindset in his policy speech.
Delegates from the Youth wing took turns to bash Pakatan Rakyat, particularly the Chinese dominated DAP, using derogatory terms like “bapok” (transvestites) and “pondan” (effeminate) to describe PKR and PAS.
Attack on the DAP became the focal point of the wing’s debates where most delegates accused the party of being anti-Islam and anti-Malay, with one delegate claiming repression on the Malay community of Penang under the control of party secretary-general and Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
But Khairy said it was unfair to allow the remarks of “one or two” delegates taint an otherwise “quality” debate session.
“Maybe one or two things were a bit inappropriate, but if you look at it in totality, it was quite good,” he told reporters after delivering his winding up speech.
The Rembau MP, seen as among the small band of progressive leaders in a party still dominated by Malay hardliners, said observers must assess the overall quality of the debates which he said touched on various pertinent issues like the economy and reforms.
The ongoing Umno AGM is seen as the party’s important preparation for the 13th general election, an electoral battle party leaders admit will be a test to Umno’s as well as party president Najib Tun Razak’s survival.
The prime minister, who will officiate the AGM tomorrow, had said that this assembly will debate on ways to prepare Umno for the elections, including discussions on the “winnable candidates” tactic that it will employ come national polls.
