Khairy Jamaluddin, who is vying for the position of Umno president, said he plans to restructure the party's assets if he wins.

He said this is so that the returns can be channelled to fund the activities of Umno at the division level.

"I promise to manage our assets well by working with professionals and the many Umno leaders who have the corporate background to restructure Umno's assets so that we can earn and generate returns.

"The returns can be channelled to all divisions," he said in a Facebook live session to discuss his manifesto for the June 30 party election.

Khairy noted that he had received many complaints from divisions about no longer receiving funding after BN was defeated in the May 9 general election.

"I will relook at our expenditure, perhaps we can slash spending at the headquarters.

"What is the point of a powerful headquarters if the divisions do not get monthly administrative aid? I will prioritise the grassroots. I will prioritise aid to the divisions.

"We can shrink our office. There is no need for the Umno president to have a big office at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC)," he said.

Even though Umno fell out of power in the May 9 general election, it remains an asset-rich company and controls, among others, PWTC and Menara Tun Hussein Onn.

Khairy's main contenders are acting Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Zahid today made a similar pledge to resume funding for Umno divisions but did not provide details. 

He had also launched veiled attacks against Khairy, accusing him of using proposals by the BN reform committee for his own manifesto. 

Khairy, in his live session, stressed the importance of a manifesto.

He pointed out that anyone can declare that they want change but details were necessary to show that it can be done.