Umno must strive to capture the imagination of voters just as US president-elect Donald Trump did earlier this month, said party Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin

He said despite being politically inexperienced, and racist, Trump still managed to win the elections because he was viewed as a new force in politics.

This is something Umno has to learn from to rejuvenate itself ahead of the next general elections, he added.

"So what if we are a 70-year-old party, as long as we can capture the imagination of the voters and bring a new and fresh approach (we can win),” Khairy told Umno Youth delegates at the wing's general assembly today.

Trump had beat Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton in the race to the White House earlier this month, in what many view as one of the greatest political upsets.

Pundits attributed the upset win to Trump's ability to win over Americans burdened by a bad economy and bring about a change, instead of continued Democrat rule.

Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil similarly said the Trump victory means that Umno must improve on its ability to analyse politics.

Election could be called any time

Meanwhile, Puteri Umno chief Mas Ermieyati Samsudin pointed out how the election could be called at any time now.

"If we take the maximum period after the last general election was held, we only have 545 days left.

"Let's ask ourselves - are we ready to face the 14th general election?"

Mas said she had brought this issue up so that they will not be complacent.

"What I'm most scared of is overconfidence that we will win the election but without doing much effort to do so."

Therefore, now is definitely not the time to rest. What's next is more hard work to ensure that they are truly ready to face the election, added Mas.

"Let's ensure that Umno and Barisan Nasional will remain as the party in power in the next general election," she said.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak yesterday told Umno delegates to get ready for elections.