Umno’s liberalism was demonstrated by the issuance of press passes to news portals Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider to cover the party’s annual general meeting.

However, warned Malay rights group Perkasa, Umno must also monitor the reports produced by both allegedly “pro-opposition” news portals to ensure that the press freedom accorded to them was not abused.

“Umno is not like (PKR leader) Anwar Ibrahim who says there is a need for a free press, but accuses Utusan Malaysia of being racist and bars it from covering the events that they (PKR) organises.

“ zahid md arip However, Umno needs to be careful and monitor the reports by Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider so that there are no reports (made) that mislead for purposes of disparaging the party,” Perkasa supreme council member Mohd Zahid Md Arip told Utusan .

In a report entitled ' Hargai keterbukaan Umno terhadap portal' (Appreciate Umno’s openness to web portals), Mohd Zahid was reported by Utusan as having urged the party to bar both news portals from covering future AGMs if their reports conflicted with the actual proceedings of the meeting.

“I also call on all Umno members not to be easily fooled and be led to believe the provocative reports of certain quarters that seek to incite the leaders of the party (against one another),” said Zahid.

'Dividing the people'

Zahid was formerly acting chief of PKR’s (then Keadilan) Youth wing as well as its deputy chief.

He rejoined Umno in February 2004, but was booted out in 2008 after writing an open letter calling for then-PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to step down if he was "a male with any sense of dignity".

Zahid rejoined Umno soon after Abdullah stepped down.

anuar shaari permatang pauh leave pkr 270307 bitter Another ex-Keadilan figure, former Anwar aide Anuar Shaari ( left ), also said Umno should tread carefully with regards to Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider as the two organisations do not “reflect the nation’s aspirations in every report they make.”

To the contrary, said Anuar, the portals favour the agenda of ‘enemies’ who want to see the people divided and bring about instability within the nation.

“So Umno needs to be careful because we have leaders within the country who exploit the agenda of Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider in order to achieve their personal goals.

“In the name of media freedom, these two portals are always manipulating reports in order to divide society and sully the image of the country in the eyes of the international community,” said Anuar.