Umno deputy president Najib Abdul Razak employed a pantun (Malay poem) urging former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad to accept his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's ways of running the country.

In the pantun , Najib said that while Umno does not forget the contributions of past leaders, it is now the era of Pak Lah (Abdullah) and that he deserves full support for the sake of the country.

The pantun was read out during Najib's winding-up speech at the Umno general assembly. Unlike the many delegates, Najib's choice of words however did not criticise Mahathir's recent antics.

Mahathir, who have been in a bitter row with Abdullah, have had one time admitted that in retrospect, Najib was the better choice as a Prime Minister.

After vocal declarations that he will stand behind Abdullah earlier on in his speech, Najib told the 2,554 delegates that there was no harm to comment on the spat between Mahathir and Abdullah in recent months.

"I don't see why I shouldn't state my view on it and I will do it in a poem," he told the audience before proceeding to read a four rung poem in Malay.

Setiap pemimpin ada zamannya, mereka berjasa kepada rakyat,

Pelbagai dasar telah dicuba, menjadikan negara kita hebat.

Bertahun-tahun negara dibina, segala bakti kita kenang,

Tidak lupa pesanan lama, pucuk pimpinan mesti dijulang.

Kini tiba zaman Pak Lah, tiga tahun menabur jasa,

Negara ini semakin berubah, memulia agama, membela bangsa.

Pak Lah kita beri sokongan, ahli parti mestilah setia

Segala barisan kita kukuhkan, demi agama, bangsa dan negara

(The poem loosely translates that the member should not forget the contributions from past leaders that have achieved glory with their own policies. However, it is Pak Lah's turn in the current changing tides and the parti must be loyal in supporting him)

The poem drew positive response as the assembly erupted in applause.

Malay Agenda

On the Malay agenda, Najib reiterated that it had no limits and no time limit, but stressed the importance of power sharing among races, which he described as a move that was 'beyond its time'.

"In other words, we clearly recognise the contributions of all races in the development of the nation. Thus, in seeking our rights as Malays, the spirit of power sharing (among races) must be preserved," he said.

On the issue of Bangsa Malaysia, Najib again reiterated that it was a 'state of mind', which was not a policy and would not warrant amendments to the Federal Constitution.

The deputy prime minster also said it should not be made into a hot polemic issue.

"What it means is that Malaysian citizens which consists of various races can have different religion, way of life and culture and still live as a united nation," he said.

"What's important is that (the concept) doesn't align itself to any constitution or race. It's a general concept, a state of mind where races are less prejudiced towards each other to a point we're one race, Bangsa Malaysia," he said.

Island of addicts

However, he added that Umno will still continue to defend the rights of the Malays despite their uneasiness over this issue.

Najib also rejected that suggestion by Umno Kedah Wanita delegate to maroon all the drug addicts on a island away from society.

"The first question is, which island is going to fit 300,000 drug addicts?" he said adding that methadone treatment have been proven effective that it would be continued.

He said that the idea was to bring back these addicts to the mainstream of the society so that they too can contribute to the nation.