By Adib Zalkapli
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 – The jury is still out on whether Umno Youth will back Khairy Jamaluddin’s call for the party to abandon its siege mentality and to embrace the mantra of Malay leadership instead of Malay supremacy.
Some delegates seemed bemused by that part, which was delivered towards the end of Khairy’s speech, as many of them had lost interest when the new Youth chief spoke of the need to stop the wing’s practice of taking a more radical stand than that of the main party’s leadership.
“Silence doesn’t mean opposition to Khairy’s vision, we stood up and clapped many times before that, but the time he reached that point, the delegates were probably tired,” said a Johor delegate who spoke on condition of anonymity.
While he agreed
with Khairy’s call to be more inclusive, the delegate said he did not share the Youth chief’s view for the wing to always be in agreement with the party president.
“Yes, we need to change, we need to win back the support we have lost, but the Youth has to be radical, we cannot just blindly follow the party leadership,” he added.
Another delegate, Mustamam Ahmad from Sabah, said it is the Youth division and branch leaders that will determine Khairy’s success in implementing his agenda.
“In Sabah, we have always adopted multiracialism, so it is not a problem for us,” said Mustamam.
“But I just hope that in the attempt to attract the Chinese and Indians, we do not forget the Malays,” he added.
On the delegates’ silence, Mustamam said they will take some time to understand the message.
“It is a good sign if they don’t blindly support but want to understand it first,” he added.
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