A challenger to Malaysia’s prime minister kicked off a campaign in the ruling party yesterday to oust him, saying the party has become a leaking ship that needs to be fixed after its recent election debacle.
Razaleigh Hamzah, chairing a special divisional meeting of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), said weak leadership, corruption, arrogance and a lack of democracy in the party had led to the ruling coalition’s worst-ever election showing.
The party has become a “faulty ship that can sink anytime because its captain is weak and often hands the rudder to the crew,’’ the 71-year-old lawmaker and former finance minister said.
But he said party leaders are in denial because they refuse to listen to criticism and instead pin the blame on external factors.
“Don’t they realize that UMNO’s main flaw that led to the disaster ... is a weak UMNO leadership, including some UMNO ministers who don’t have a good personal and ethical track record,’’ Razaleigh told about 5,000 party members at the meeting in northeast Kelantan state.
He didn’t name anyone.
“We need to discuss the problems in our own house and find the true and right path to make ourselves better and prevent a situation that may become worse in the next general election,” Razaleigh said.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also the party president, has rejected calls for him to step down following March 8 general elections, which plunged the party into its gravest crisis in history.
The party, the linchpin of the ruling National Front coalition, retained power in the polls but with only a simple majority in parliament. It lost its traditional two-thirds majority and, more significantly, lost five states to the opposition.
Abdullah, who claims to have the full support of his party, is to seek re-election as party president in December. Razaleigh, who plans to run against Abdullah, said UMNO is seen as a “Malay fanatical’’ party by non-Malays and as corrupt by its own Malay supporters. Malaysia has large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.
Razaleigh reiterated calls for an open contest for the party leadership in December’s polls, saying strict nomination rules should be abolished because they are undemocratic and encourage vote-buying.
At present, a candidate must be nominated by 30 percent of the party’s 191 divisions, which is hard to achieve by someone not endorsed by the party leadership. The party president automatically becomes the prime minister.
“To save the party and make it more relevant, efficient, strong and progressive, democracy must be restored. The quota system must be abolished,’’ Razaleigh said.
Four other UMNO Cabinet ministers have also endorsed calls for the nomination quota to be removed, highlighting Abdullah’s weakening control over power in Malaysia.
On Tuesday, hundreds of UMNO supporters met in Kuala Lumpur to demand Abdullah resign over the election results.
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