Some Umno Youth delegates have expressed their disagreement with Hishammudin Hussein's speech about the movement rejecting the readmission of Anwar Ibrahim into the party.

A group of youth delegates who met with malaysiakini today said the question of Anwar's readmission into Umno should not have been raised in the policy speech of the Youth head yesterday as the former deputy prime minister has never applied to rejoin Umno yet.

"There are many youth delegates whom I have met who did not agree with Hisamuddin raising the issue in his speech," said one of them.

"What has become the question among the delegates was whether the view of Hishammudin reflected the sentiments of all the delegates, or was it reflective of his own worries over the latest development," he added.

Actually, he said, most of the delegates feel that matters linked to Anwar are not an issue which can jolt Umno's position.

"Umno is now strong... just look at the results of the last general election. Barisan Nasional won handsomely with many Umno candidates winning the seats they contested," he said.

Landslide victory

In the last general election, Umno won 109 out of 117 parliamentary seats and 303 out of 338 state seats allocated to the party.

"Anwar is now free... just let him make his own decision about his future political direction. What is more, he is not an issue which can trouble Umno," he added.

As such, he said, it is not necessary for any quarter in Umno to stir up the issue of his release.

"That was a decision of the court which we all must respect. We did not know that the release of Anwar would make certain Umno leaders, in the Youth wing in particular, so uncomfortable. To us, it is not an issue to be worried about," he said.

He added that there were many Umno members who felt relieved that Anwar has been freed as he was the main reason why BN, and in particular Umno, lost badly in the 1999 general election and lost Terengganu to PAS.

"Now, he is not a major issue which can trouble Umno. We have even wrested back Terengganu from PAS and won practically half of the parliamentary and state seats in Kelantan," he said.

What about the others?

He said that by right, Hishamuddin's speech should have concentrated on matters related to the party and issues involving the Malay race which needed the assistance of the party.

In addition, Hishamuddin should not have labelled Anwar as a traitor to the party who should not be accepted back into the party's fold, he added.

"How was it with Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who once contested against the party president and caused Umno to be declared illegal in 1988. He then set up the Semangat 46 party and later dissolved that party and rejoined Umno."

"How about Rais Yatim, who was once in Semangat 46, and declared at that time that he had burnt his bridges and would not return to Umno. He too returned to Umno, and is now a cabinet minister even."

"What about Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, who is now the Umno secretary general..."

"If Anwar is labelled a traitor because he once opposed Umno, what about all of these people. What should we call them?" he asked.

As such, he said, Hishamuddin should have considered more carefully the impact of his speech, not only on the movement itself, but also on those who have returned to Umno after leaving it.

Aside from Hishamuddin, Wanita head Rafidah Aziz and Puteri head Azalina Othman also criticised Anwar and asked Umno to keep its doors closed to him.