KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 (Bernama) -- No matter when the announcement for the
13th general election will be made, the 62th Umno General Assembly scheduled to
begin tomorrow until Dec 3 at the Putra World Trade Centre here will become the
platform to drive the party towards election preparedness.
Although the current parliamentary terms ends in March 2013, various
quarters, ranging from the governing party to the opposition, as well as
political analysts, had anticipated that the next general election would be held
sooner.
However, to get a straight answer about the actual date for the next general
election from Prime Minister Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is
also Umno President, is probably the most difficult task to do at the moment.
When he was asked in a recent interview with Bernama on whether the this
year''s Umno general assembly would be the last assembly before the 13th general
election, the prime minister spontaneously said: "Who said so? Maybe not".
Nevertheless, Najib had, of late, been advising party members to be prepared
to face the next general election, and hence, giving some kind of a signal that
he seriously wanted the party''s election machinery to be fueled up for the
election.
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UMNO-ASSEMBLY (CURTAIN RAISER) 2 KUALA LUMPUR
Umno Information Chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan said it would be a "big loss" if
the topic of general election were not raised at the assembly since many
believed that the general election was just around the corner.
"I hope the delegates will discuss the topic in detail, especially on how to
win back those lost seats, strengthen our positions in existing seats and wrest
back the lost states," he was reported as saying at a media conference last
week.
Umno party election, which was supposed to be held during this year''s
assembly, had been postponed for 18 months.
It was reported that the decision was not made on purpose, but was aimed at
strengthening the party, prevent sabotaging efforts, foster unity and resolve
the party''s internal issues before facing the biggest challenge - the general
election.
The first time Umno Supreme Council decided to postpone the party polls was
in 1999 where it was postponed to May 2000 to enable to party to focus on 1999
general election.
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Debaters for this year''s assembly had also been reminded to avoid making
statements that would touch the sensitivities of other races while discussing
the Malay agendas.
Even more than that, they were also reminded to raise important issues and
not to simply criticise others without giving supporting facts and suggestions.
Among those who had given the reminders was Ahmad Maslan, who was reported
as saying that in the context of 1Malaysia, the Malay agendas could still be
expanded properly without hurting the feelings of other races in the country.
"However, it would be wrong if we talk about the 1Malaysia concept without
touching about the Malay agendas," he said.
A total of 5,447 delegates will attend the Umno General Assembly this year
comprising 2,627 delegates from 191 divisions nationwide, 944 from Wanita, 942
from Youth and 934 from Puteri.
-- BERNAMA
SHS LES NHA