Umno must evaluate and adapt to changes in the current socio-politics, or else it will lose relevance in the eyes of the voters, said Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said the party must draw up the right strategy and policy to operate in such environment, taking into consideration that the interests of the younger generation, including the Malays, were more into seeing how Malaysia could prosper.
“During the early days (when Umno was set up), the demography was different, the struggle (of Umno) was more about young people going into university, doing businesses... the struggle for the community’s empowerment was important.
“But now, things are different to these young and educated youths, who were already empowered economically, and this presents a unique challenge to us (to stay relevant),” Khairy said while responding to questions from the audience during the 9th Malaysian Students Leaders Summit in Kuala Lumpur today.
The two-day summit was organised by the United Kingdom and Eire Council of Malaysian Students (UKEC) where a number of prominent people would discuss and share with the audience their findings on current issues.
Meanwhile, Khairy noted that the rapid change in the demography and socio-politics of Malaysia was one of the crucial reasons why Umno and the Barisan Nasional (BN) should work harder to revert the trust deficit and the crisis of confidence the ruling party had been facing.
He said although Umno and BN were extremely ‘fortunate’ that Pakatan Rakyat was in the midst of instability, the ruling party should never rely on that but to find the right formula for people to keep on having faith in the party.
“The proposition for Umno today is to reach out to Malaysians and to tell them that we run this country well and you can trust us.
“There’s a lot for us to do to reverse the trust deficit, to overcome the crisis of confidence, to correct the (negative) perception... it’s no longer about the patronage system where I give you something and you must support me (in return)," he said.
Khairy, who is also BN Youth chairperson, added that if nothing was done (to overcome the trust deficit and negative perception), the voters could turn to the opposition pact.
To a question on why students were denied their rights to voice out opinions about the current issues, Khairy replied that government had taken sufficient measures to ensure these voices would be heard properly, including having the Universities and University Colleges Act (AUKU) amended.
However, Khairy noted that there should not be a problem for the students to voice out their opinion as long as it was properly done and did not breach the laws.
“If you want to contribute, do not go away with the generalisation that every young Malaysians will be punished or prosecuted.
“Because if you want to be part of it, you should be allowed to do so, but if you break the law (then) not so much can be done,” he said.
- Bernama
