Umno Youth head Hishammuddin Hussein today said it was up to his deputy Khairy Jamaluddin to convince Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders that he did not intend to offend them.

Commenting on Khairy's defence that his controversial remarks at a recent Umno meet had been misinterpreted, Hishammuddin said: "If he said he has been misunderstood, then I believe he has been misunderstood."

As to whether he would instruct his deputy to apologise, he said: "I don't instruct anybody to do anything especially when it involves his personal views."

"It's for him (Khairy) to satisfy our friends in the component parties that what was reported is not what it seems. There are people who have looked at it from a racial point, we have to convince them [...] It's a learning process for Khairy," he said at a joint press conference of BN Youth wings at the Parliament lobby.

Also present were Gerakan Youth chief Mah Siew Keong ( photo, far left ), MCA Youth chief Liow Tiong Lai ( second left ), and MIC Youth chief SA Vigneswaran ( far right ).

'Immature, uncalled for'

Khairy, who is Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's son-in-law, irked BN leaders when he told an Umno Youth division meeting in Kedah last Friday that the Chinese Malaysian community would take advantage of the current Umno infighting to make demands to advance the community's interest.

He also pointed out that the demands made by the Malaysian Chinese Election Appeals Committee (Suqiu) in 1999 and a memorandum purportedly submitted by MCA leaders to the premier early this year in relation to the Chinese community's rights were due to Umno being weak.

Following this, MCA and Gerakan leaders criticised the 31-year-old politician's statements as being "immature and uncalled for". The issue was also given prominent coverage by Chinese dailies.

Khairy has since defended himself, claiming that his statements were misinterpreted.

The Umno Youth deputy chief said his remarks were aimed at uplifting the spirit of Umno and not to jeopardise the spirit of unity in BN.

Chinese newspapers today also quoted the prime minister as saying that any controversy can be settled through the BN channels.

Amicable solution

Meanwhile, Hishammuddin ( right ) also felt that the issue can be resolved amicably through the proper channels.

"I don't think it's an issue, I think it's something that can be resolved [...] the main thing is to satisfy those who have been offended," he said, adding that he has yet to read Khairy remarks.

The Umno Youth chief, however, added that he will not stop anyone from raising the issue during the next BN Youth meeting.

At the press conference, Liow and Mah praised Hishammuddin for his immediate reaction to the controversy.

Met by reporters later, Liow ( photo, right ) declined to comment on whether MCA Youth accepted Khairy's explanation but said Khairy had communicated with him "on the instruction of Hishammuddin".

In an unrelated development, Hishammuddin said the call to rotate the Penang chief minister post was no longer an issue as he has instructed the youth wings in the state to forward their views to chief minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon.