Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah disagrees with the idea of opening up Umno to non-Malays, as has been suggested by some of its leaders following BN’s devastating defeat in the recent general election.

Tengku Razaleigh insisted that the sentiment on the ground dictates that Umno be kept an exclusively Malay party.

"You can add one or two non-Malays, like some parties have done, and label them as multiracial parties. But the face is still not multiracial.

"I can say I am a multiracial, because I used to have a non-Malay wife, but I am not multiracial in that (the party) sense," he said at a press conference at his office in Kuala Lumpur today.

"What's wrong with that, we are very happy. We have been running the country as Perikatan and BN. Has the leading party Umno did anything to deprive the non-Malays?

"Are Bersatu and DAP multiracial parties?" he asked.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin had initially mooted the idea of opening up the party up to all Malaysians, saying that the heavy polls defeat should force a rethink of its raison d'être. 

Other party leadership to have called for Umno to open its doors to other races include Pahang Umno chief Adnan Yaakob, Johor opposition leader Hasni Mohammad and Umno supreme council member Nazri Abdul Aziz.

Tengku Razaleigh, a member of Umno for over 60 years, said such a move would go against the reason Umno was set up in the first place.

"It was born like that. Umno was formed by the gathering of Malay organisations in 1946 because of the threat to the sovereignty of the country," he said.

Umno, Tengku Razaleigh added, were heroes for leading the fight against British colonialists.

He also pointed out that even Umno founder Onn Jaafar, who first brought up the idea of making the party multiracial just five years after its establishment, has to leave.

Coincidentally, also present during the press conference was Onn's great-grandson Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

Onn Hafiz is Sembrong Umno Youth chief and Layang-Layang assemblyperson in Johor.  

Apologise for past mistakes

Meanwhile, Tengku Razaleigh felt that the cost of living and the goods and services tax (GST) were the main factor which contributed to the defeat of BN.

He claimed that the public's perception of 1MDB and the leadership of former prime minister Najib Razak were also among the cause.

Umno failed to address the public perception well, Tengku Razaleigh said.

When pressed further, he noted that Najib has not been charged in court.

Asked whether he planned any action after hearing former Umno leaders Muhyiddin Yassin and Shafie Apdal spoke up on 1MDB, Tengku Razaleigh explained that he had no access to the auditor-general report.

"How to comment on what was said by Muhyiddin and Shafie. They were merely views."

Tengku Razaleigh also apologised to the public for all the mistakes committed by Umno in the past.

"Although I don't speak on behalf of the party I feel we ought to apologise. We will make amends and be reborn as a stronger organisation," he added.