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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Scrapping Umno wings too drastic: Najib - Malaysiakini

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno has no plans to abolish its Putera and Puteri wings as suggested by the party’s disciplinary board, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“The suggestion is too drastic a measure and would create a huge impact on future leadership,” he said at the launch of the Peugeot 308 here on Thursday.

It would also deprive Umno of the opportunity to build up leaders from within, he said.

The structure for the wings has existed since the beginning and they play an important role, he added.

On Wednesday, Umno disciplinary board chairman Tan Sri Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen suggested Umno revamp by abolishing the three main party wings (including Youth and Wanita) and Putera Umno to ensure that corruption within the party was totally eradicated.

He said the problem of money politics and vote-buying could be eradicated by making Umno a singular organisation.

“If the problem is with money politics, then it would be better for us to strengthen enforcement and our value system,” Najib said.

Meanwhile, Putera Umno chief Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said that Putera is not a wing but a bureau under Umno Youth.

“Putera is still relevant to Umno and should not be abolished as it would only weaken the party,” he said.

“It is an avenue for the younger generation and abolishing it would only alienate them,” he said.

Nevertheless, he said Putera would abide by whatever decision the Umno supreme council makes over the issue. - thestar

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

scrapping of umno wings - pemuda, putra, putri and wanita as suggested by tan seri tengku ahmad rethauddeen is another example that shows umno too much concentration on structural reform.