Najib will not rejuvenate Umno – Kit Siang

(Malaysiakini) – DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang does not believe that former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak would be able to rejuvenate Umno after the party’s defeat in the last two elections. On the contrary, he believes the only way to restore Umno to its glory days would be for the party to return to its original nation-building principles and policies.

“There are those who believe that the way for Umno to regain its former electoral support is for Najib to be pardoned. I do not agree, as otherwise, the Umno lessons of the 14th and 15th general elections would not have happened.

“I believe that the only way to restore Umno as a leading political party is to play a leading role in the reset and return of Malaysia to the original nation-building principles and policies for a plural nation, which had the support of the first four Umno presidents – Onn Jaafar, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Razak Hussein and Hussein Onn.

“This includes leading the fight against corruption in Malaysia and restoring judicial independence,” Lim said in a statement today. He pointed out that Umno had first lost support from the general public in GE14 and later suffered losses from Malay support in GE15, causing the party to trail behind PAS and Bersatu.

His remarks came after Umno supreme council member Puad Zarkashi said Pakatan Harapan leaders such as Lim and Hassan Abdul Karim were afraid of the possibility that Najib would get out of jail and rejuvenate Umno.

Both Lim and Hassan previously expressed their opposition to a royal pardon being granted to Najib, who is currently serving a 12-year jail term for corruption in the SRC International case. Lim warned that the government could self-destruct while Hassan said the government would face a major disaster if Najib is given a royal pardon.

Puad, meanwhile, accused DAP of being the reason for the collapse of the Harapan administration in 2020, saying the party was the main reason why Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin orchestrated the Sheraton Move.

“Actually, DAP can also cause the collapse of this government, not Najib or Zahid. It was not easy for Umno to change the ‘No DAP, No Anwar’ policy because DAP and its ministers are acting like a ‘time bomb’,” Puad said.

Last week, the Umno supreme council unanimously decided to appeal to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to pardon Najib. The council will also present to the monarch a memorandum signed by all 191 Umno division leaders.