Umno has lost its way, says ‘reformist’ KJ

(FMT) – Khairy Jamaluddin has called himself an “Umno reformist” and claimed that the party has “lost its way and needs to go back to its roots”.

The former Umno Youth chief said he wants to make it a party that Malays can be proud of once again.

“It’s just that Umno (has) lost its way and needs to go back to its roots. Umno has to be ‘fixed’,” the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Sungai Buloh seat said at a ceramah last night.

“First, I want to win this election and make sure Ismail Sabri Yaakob returns as prime minister. After that, we’ll clean up Umno and BN.

“I am a reformist in Umno. I can’t keep my mouth shut. That’s why I was sent to Sungai Buloh,” the health minister was quoted as saying by Astro Awani.

Admitting that contesting in Sungai Buloh was the biggest challenge of his political career, Khairy said that he was unlike other leaders in Umno, who only dared to contest in safe areas.

“For the first time, there is a federal minister from my party who dares to contest (in an unsafe area) in Selangor,” he said.

BN won only two parliamentary seats in Selangor in the 2018 general election (GE14), with Noh Omar winning in Tanjong Karang for a sixth term and Fasiah Fakeh taking Sabak Bernam. Prior to GE14, Noh Omar was the urban wellbeing, housing and local government minister.

“All this time, the big names in my party always try to choose a safe area. That is why there is not a lot of competition in Selangor. Usually, only Noh Omar would win, and that too in Tanjong Karang.

“No one dares to come to a town like Sungai Buloh. Even in Kuala Selangor, no one dared, except Tengku Zafrul,” he added, referring to finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz, who is making his debut in a general election.

Khairy will be going up against R Ramanan of Pakatan Harapan, Ghazali Hamin (Perikatan Nasional), Akmal Yusoff (Pejuang), Ahmad Jufliz Faiza (Parti Rakyat Malaysia), and two independent candidates for the seat.