Umno Youth saved Mahathir’s Umno Baru, says Najib

Otherwise reborn party would have ended stillborn, Umno president reminds his greatest critic.

(Free Malaysia Today) – Umno President Najib Abdul Razak has reminded his current number one adversary Dr Mahathir Mohamad how he had saved Umno after it was de-registered in 1987.

Pointing out that “80 percent” of the party had opposed Mahathir’s leadership, he said it was the Umno Youth wing which he then headed, that pulled Mahathir out of crisis.

“Umno Youth held a meeting, where I submitted thousands of new memberships to Mahathir. That was the start of history for Umno Baru where it was finally able to be developed,” he said, according to Malaysiakini.

“If not, Umno Baru would have perished, what westerners say ‘stillborn’. But because of the Youth wing’s contribution, Umno was saved,” he was quoted as saying.

Najib’s remarks came in a speech on Saturday night at an anniversary event to commemorate his 40 years in politics.

Umno Baru was formed in 1988 after Umno had been declared illegal following a court ruling to challenge the 1987 party elections, in which the party was split into two teams. Mahathir won the party presidency by a narrow margin over his challenger Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

A court challenge followed, resulting in Umno being deregistered. While Mahathir formed Umno (Baru), Tengku Razaleigh formed the splinter party Semangat 46 and went into opposition for several years.