How Umno can achieve greatness again

Tawfik says original Umno was committed to democratic principles and was not chauvinistic.

(FMT) – Former MP Tawfik Ismail has advised Umno to revert to being the party it was at its inception so that it can be seen as a viable alternative to Pakatan Harapan.

The original Umno, he said, was committed to democratic principles and was not chauvinistic.

“In its original form, Umno was a rural-based, religiously progressive party,” he added. “Money politics was not the norm and it did not try to out-PAS PAS.” 

Tawfik, who served as Sungai Benut MP between 1986 and 1990, said Umno, in order to project itself as a party worthy of leading the opposition, must reorganise itself so that it once again would become a party that places its ideology above the interests of any one member, even if that member is its president.

He said the party had to make it easy for young and bright Malays to join and go up the ranks by centralising the enrolment of members instead of allowing its branches to be the entry points.

He alleged that many Malay youths of calibre had joined other parties because some Umno branches did not welcome them.

“If the membership was centralised, the top leaders would be able to assess the new members’ commitment to the party’s principles and ideology,” he said.

Tawfik noted that several pundits had blamed Umno president Najib Razak’s unpopularity as being the chief reason for Barisan Nasional’s first electoral defeat since independence, but he urged Umno to show unity by rallying around the former prime minister, “at least for the moment”.

“It’s true that the president must take the blame,” he said. “But is the alternative someone that can unite everyone? There can be an alternative only after party elections and if the one who wins the president’s post is an MP.”

Tawfik also urged BN to form a shadow cabinet to monitor the government. “With their years of experience, they are a formidable parliamentary force,” he said.