Khairy says Dr M was wrong to say Umno brooks no dissent
(Malay Mail Online) – Tun Dr Mahathir was wrong to claim Umno needed reforms to allow for internal criticism, Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said today when describing the party as welcoming of dissenting views.
This is the first time in years the Rembau MP has directly addressed his fiercest critic Dr Mahathir, who once blamed the government’s poor electoral performance in 2008 on Khairy, the son in law of then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
“In Umno, we never prohibit anyone from speaking out against the party leadership. In fact, during our meetings the delegates always express their views against the leadership.
“And I know the Umno president (Datuk Seri Najib Razak) is someone who is open to criticism so to say that Umno is not opened to criticism is wrong,” he told reporters here.
Dr Mahathir had recently accused his own party Umno of self-censorship, saying the culture of silencing dissent and fear of speaking out was entrenched.
In a blog post last month, Dr Mahathir also derided the Najib administration and its policies as reflecting a culture of “yes-men”, but later added that the criticism was not a personal attack on the prime minister.
Najib has since downplayed the criticisms, saying he is open to meeting with the veteran politician to hear him out.
“From Umno’s point of view, they give their support to the current leadership. But they also respect Tun [Dr Mahathir] as an elder statesman,” Najib told a press conference after a recent Umno Supreme Council meeting.
“There are various possibilities,” he added, referring to the suggestion for the two to meet and settle their differences. “We hope the end will benefit Umno as a whole.”
In the 13th general election last year, Barisan Nasional (BN) won 133 seats in the 222-member Parliament and failed to recapture the two-thirds majority it lost in 2008.
Several Umno supreme council members told Malay Mail Online last week that Dr Mahathir’s criticism of Najib over policy decisions made jointly by the administration and lawmakers was “unfair”.
