INTERVIEW | Federal Territories Umno Youth chief Razlan Rafii has likened the party’s present situation as like a “sunken ship” that sorely needs a new captain to salvage it and chart a new course.

“We wanted to take this ship far, but our ship has sunk. What we need to do right now is to refloat our sunken ship so that it can sail on towards victory.

“However, if the captain is the same captain as when the ship sank, it will be extremely difficult for the ship to float again.

“All I’m asking is for a drastic change (of leadership) so that we can witness the comeback of Umno and give hope to the grassroots to continue being on this ship,” Razlan told Malaysiakini in an interview in Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur.

After sailing undefeated for six decades, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak led Umno and the BN coalition to its first ever loss on May 9, in the 14th general election.

Following this ignominious defeat, Najib resigned both as head of Umno and BN.

Umno’s long-delayed party polls this June 23 thus presents it with an opportunity to re-examine and radically reinvent itself, said Razlan.

He also mooted several new “captains” fit to steer Umno into a new dawn.

“Some have said that (Kelantan Umno chief) Mustapa Mohamed is fit to head Umno and some have asked (Gua Musang MP) Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to fix Umno’s image.

“Some have also asked (former Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar) Mohamad Hasan (photo) to contest for the presidency,” he said, adding that these leaders were revered for their integrity and credibility.

Thus far, only Mohamad Hasan has submitted his nomination form but for the position of deputy president. Both Mustapa and Tengku Razaleigh, popularly known as Ku Li, say they are unsure of their decision to contest for the top job.

Aside from a little-known blogger, the main contender to for the post of Umno president is acting president and former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

“I believe Umno needs a new president, a new face," said Razlan who is contesting for a spot on the Umno supreme council.

“We respect Zahid’s decision to contest for the presidency but Umno Youth hopes there will be other presidential candidates that are dreamed of by the rakyat,” he said.

Why Umno lost

Among the key factors Razlan believes to have led to Umno’s downfall was the widespread rejection of Najib, coupled with the “wow factor” possessed by new Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, especially among the youth.

Razlan also joined the chorus calling for an end to what he said was the deeply detrimental “warlord culture” in the party.

As a grassroots leader, he said, he believed Umno’s biggest mistake was a “culture of silence” over thorny issues like 1MDB and the wholesale rejection of critical comments from grassroots members.

“When the 1MDB crisis was at its peak (in 2015), all Umno members were barred from discussing this issue. What this did was restrict the voices of the grassroots completely.

“And when the supreme council decided to delay party elections by 18 months, this gave them more power to ignore the voices of the grassroots… this decision was not discussed with the grassroots at all,” Razlan said.

These factors were exacerbated by the lack of major Umno or BN rallies in the run-up to polling day on May 9. All this while Pakatan Harapan was ramping up the public to reject BN/Umno, he noted.

“They were holding ceramah sessions every day, from only 40 people being present till up to 40,000 for Mahathir.

“I did not see us do this… we held some small ceramah, but we did not do what was needed. This is why people did not get an explanation (about these issues) from us... we could not answer what Harapan was saying about us,” he said.

Asked if the party had been overconfident of its chances, like what Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar had previously said about the party being “drunk on its own Kool-Aid”, Razlan concurred.

“From the reports that we got, they said we could win.

“And with the exit of PAS from the opposition coalition (at the time), I believe this gave us more confidence that we would win,” he said.

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