Umno remains the party of the people’s choice based on the results of the recent 13th general election, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said today.

He said this was evident with Umno winning 88 of the parliamentary seats in the election, from 79 in the 2008 general election.

“If compared with the opposition, they have 89 seats, meaning Umno alone can equalise the seats won by the opposition allies comprising DAP, PKR and PAS,” he told reporters after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting in Kuala Lumpur today.

Najib, who is Umno president, said the party’s performance was also gauged by its ability to wrest back Kedah and Perak, as well as the increase in votes obtained.

“According to our study, there is about a 30 percent increase in votes for Umno from the 12th general election,” he added.

As such, he said, Umno would continue to strengthen its machinery through various improvements.

“The Umno supreme council has received suggestions from the management committee chaired by deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin on the need for us to review the party’s administration at the headquarters.

“This will involve research and training, the social media, information, etc,” he added.

Najib said restructuring was necessary to ensure efforts, message and all directives by the supreme council could be implemented smoothly.

“Restructuring will be carried in tandem with the need to get professionals to work full time and be dedicated to the tasks given,” he added.

Meanwhile, Umno vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the announcement by Najib to introduce various specialisations to further strengthen the party would make Umno more focused in reaching out to the young people.

 “This is a new focus by the party because in 2017 or 2018, there will be almost 2.5 million young voters, and attention has to be given to reach out to this group,” he added.

Umno Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin opined that the move for specialisation was apt to start the party’s preparations for the 14th general election.

“We separate the social media from information, so we will give inputs to carry out a more effective campaign through the alternative media,” he added.

- Bernama