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Ku Li says not aiming to be PM, just wants to reform Umno
Published:  Jun 26, 2018 5:00 PM
Updated: 9:31 AM

Umno presidential candidate Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said he is not in the race in hopes of becoming prime minister one day.

He told an interview aired by the radio station BFM this morning that he does not think he could serve more than one term as the party’s president if elected.

Instead, he said he is merely looking to reorganise Umno into a viable political party, and groom the next cadre of young leaders to take over.

“No, I'm looking forward at reorganising the party so that it becomes a viable political organisation acceptable to the people and could represent the 60 percent of our population in this country, who are Malays who have looked up to Umno in the past and will continue to look up to Umno, provided they are more meaningful in their actions to interact with and help the people,” he said.

Tengku Razaleigh was asked whether his bid for Umno presidency is a stepping stone towards something greater such as becoming prime minister.

The Umno veteran had been a member of the party since 1962, eventually becoming finance minister from 1972 until 1984.

He dropped out of the party after a falling out with then Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1987, which saw him set up the now-defunct Semangat 46.

'I'm not important'

Fondly known as Ku Li, he is one of five contenders for the party’s presidential election on Saturday. The others are Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar, Mohamed Iqbal Maricair, and Mohd Yusof Musa @ Jamaluddin.

Tengku Razaleigh told BFM that he joined the Umno presidential election because groups of people had approached him saying that they didn't want people associated with the incumbent party leadership.

“So I thought at that time that no one had offered themselves (to contest). So I thought, okay, to save the party I’ll offer myself. Whether I win or not is a different matter,” he said

Tengku Razaleigh added that he himself was “not important” when asked on what he would like youths to know about him.

“I'm not important. What is important is the country and them. And I think we need to give them the opportunity, to empower them rather than letting oldies like me and others to (sort things out) for them.

“And I think they're capable and I think they're the future of this country,” he said.

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