Engage the young, give them more room, Najib tells Umno
Umno needs to give more opportunities for young people and not see them as threats if the Malay party wants to remain relevant, said Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
The Umno chairman said Y-politics, or the politics of engaging Generation Y was needed to woo them to support the party and the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional.
"They are our future, we have to give room for the young people, guide them, only then Umno will be seen as modern, aggressive and dynamic instead of a tired party," he said when opening the Federal Territory Umno convention this morning.
Citing his constant interaction with the younger generation, including taking selfies, Najib said this was part and parcel of engaging the youth.
He told grassroots leaders not to make it difficult for young people who want to join the party just because they wanted to safeguard their posts.
"When they filled up their application forms, their forms disappeared and after waiting for a few months, there was no news, so they appealed at the division level, but there was no news after some time so they appealed to HQ and by that time, one year has passed.
"Why? Because there are some who are afraid these young people will go after their posts," he said.
Najib said for the party to remain in power, it needs to rejuvenate and look for leaders with abilities who were better than the opposition.
He accused the opposition of being good at lies and spinning, so much so that Umno has become a "victim of perception", which the party needed to rectify.
"This is where Umno must know how to utilise social media, engage, answer. We cannot close down Facebook and Twitter because the world has changed.
"This is not the answer, the answer is not to stifle the environment but in this open environment, Umno must be the champion, must be better than the opposition."
Besides Y-politics, Najib also stressed on two other "reality checks", namely K-politics and the need for Umno to be inclusive and fair.
K-politics, or political knowledge, was important as the urban electorate are better educated and as such, there is a need for a knowledgeable intellectual leadership to influence the people, he said.
He also said Umno needed to be fair and inclusive and that members should not use the party as a stepping stone for personal gains.
As such, he called on every member to strengthen comradeship within the party and with BN component parties.
Lamenting that despite building infrastructure projects such as mosques and surau, and setting up parent-teacher associations, the deeds have not translated into political support.
"We have to ask ourselves, are we too busy with our internal affairs, so much so that our priority is to defend our positions than to find supporters for Umno?
"Or is it that when we do something, for example, giving out condominiums, houses or aid, we only give to our loyal supporters rather than the people?" he asked to shouts of "betul, betul" (correct, correct) from the floor. – November 23, 2014.
