Umno's 55th annual general meeting concluded today with Najib Abdul Razak pledging to be a loyal deputy to party president and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Najib also assured Abdullah that he will serve him dutifully, just as Abdullah had served Najib's father Abdul Razak Hussein, the second prime minister.

According to Najib, he had known Abdullah for the last 30 years when the latter had served Razak in various capacities.

"As such, this is my time to serve Pak Lah... I will be right behind him... and I will never stab his back," he said in his winding speech to the thunderous applause from the 2,500 delegates.

With these worries gone, Najib told Abdullah to continue in his efforts to develop the country and to uplift the livelihoood of the people, especially the Malays without fear.

In the past, Abdullah's predecessor, Dr Mahathir Mohamad had experienced difficulties with two of his deputies. His first deputy Musa Hitam resigned after a fall out in 1986 while Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from Umno and the government in 1998.

The relationship between Abdullah and Najib has been under the spotlight ever since Abdullah took over from Mahathir last November.

Some quarters believed that Abdullah preferred another vice president Muhyiddin Yassin to be his deputy but eventually Abdullah chose Najib in January.

Grasp the opportunities

Meanwhile in his winding up speech, Abdullah repeated his calls to the Malays to grasp the opportunity made available to them to improve their quality of lives in various sectors, especially in agriculture.

"I strongly believe that agriculture will be the main force to strengthen and uplift the livelihood of Malays, and I would make sure that this will be realised," he added.

While congratulating the newly elected vice presidents and supreme council members, Abdullah said he would want them to work as a team to ensure that Umno continues to be the strongest and biggest Malay party.

Early, the Federal Territories Minister Mohd Isa Samad in his maiden speech as a vice president also pledged his loyalty to Abdullah and Najib.

He said, the new Umno line-up, including Abdullah, represents the new era in Umno as the party is now being led by leaders who were not involved in the formation of the party and the struggle for independence in 1957.

As such, he called on party members and leaders to give full support to Abdullah and Najib in order to strengthen the party.