Umno should shed its image of being a ‘bribery party’ before the next election, says former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“Umno should lose its image as a 'bribery party'. The lifestyle of Umno leaders should be moderate. They should be close to the people and not just Umno members. They should also not use luxury cars when entering villages.”

This was among three of his suggestions to improve Umno, especially Umno Selangor, in the coming general election.

Mahathir, in his blog today, also called for the resignation of Selangor Umno leaders involved in the failure of the previous two elections.

"The leaders of Selangor Umno should accept their defeat in the previous 12th and 13th general elections. They should resign," Mahathir posted in his blog.

The state Umno was led by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak during the last elections and was succeeded by former agriculture minister Noh Omar.

Najib said last week that he is "tired and embarrassed" whenever his party is referred to as the opposition in Selangor.

Mahathir called on Umno leaders to take in talented younger members, for the party leaders have the tendency to fear for their own positions.

"There are no candidates for the menteri besar position among the current Umno leaders. The Umno leaders do not like to take in new talented members as they are afraid of being threatened and lose their positions."

Time for Gen-Y 

He also said that the intake of new members especially from generation Y would be influential in the upcoming elections.

"In the coming 14th general election, there will be 2.5 million voters from the younger generation who would be voting," he said.

However, he said, these new members should be vetted by Umno veterans before being allowed into the party.

"The vetting is necessary as there are 'pests' looking to use Umno for their own personal agenda," said Mahathir.

He said the younger generation, especially the ones with a Western education, were no longer interested in joining Umno.

“To them there is no loyalty towards the party and leaders who gave them the opportunity to study and succeed in life. “

Mahathir said the younger generation refutes the goodwill of the party as they believe that any party that forms the government would do the same.

“This shallow view is because they have not made comparison between the Umno-led government and governments of other countries.

“If they do a comparison, they would see that many other countries that have achieved independence as us (Malaysia), have not been modernised or provided benefits such as education, scholarships and other avenues, like that of Malaysia.”

The octogenarian also asked Umno to be more open in approaching the Malay youths, even if they are against the party.

“Umno Selangor needs to put in more effort to bring in Malay youths by being close with those who are non-members and even those opposing the party," Mahathir said.