Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar has urged party members to be brave and to stand with their party president Najib Abdul Razak, even if they are ridiculed for doing so.

Khairy reiterated that the court filings by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) linked to 1MDB are merely the findings of an investigation that still need to be proven in court.

Despite this, he said, some of Najib’s detractors have taken the allegations as the unvarnished truth and he told the Umno members present that such statements should not come from Umno itself.

“(Instead) we must think; we must use our brains and our spirit of solidarity with our president and say that nothing has been proven yet.

“We must be brave, even though we would be condemned and ridiculed on the social media that we are all Umno minions (balaci) and lackeys (macai).

“Never mind. We will become the minions and the lackeys, but never mind. Why? To stand together with our president and uphold truth and justice,” Khairy said in a speech in Putrajaya last night.

He said this when launching the Putrajaya Umno divisional meetings for its youth, Wanita and Puteri wings.

Characteristics Umno must possess

In his speech, Khairy outlined the characteristics that Umno must possess in order to win the next general election: courage, unity, and a ‘winning mentality’.

He said Umno must not rest on its laurels despite scoring major victories in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections, and helping their allies in Sarawak score a victory of their own in the state election in May.

Instead, it must up the ante, especially in terms of tackling issues, lest the party’s efforts in providing years and years of services to the community are ‘erased’ by sentiments stirred up by a month of opposition campaigning, he said.

Khairy also addressed the issue of big names, such as former Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin, former vice-president Shafie Apdal, and former Kedah menteri besar Mukhriz Mahathir, leaving the party.

He said this mounts a direct challenge to Umno, but expressed confidence that the party is up to the task.

He pointed out that even the founder of the party, Onn Ja’afar, could not survive in the political wilderness after he left Umno.

“For me, it is the party that is blessed, not the individuals. The moment they leave Umno, they also leave the struggle to champion the Malays, and I believe that the Malays will not be with them…

“So, yes, we love our leaders, and we defend our leaders. However, when the leader departs from Umno’s struggles, from the party, from this Malay platform, then there is no place for them in the Malay struggle,” Khairy said.