PETALING JAYA: The cracks within Umno appear to be widening as Khairy Jamaluddin has trained his guns against the party in a series of tweets.
Khairy - who failed in his recent bid to become Umno president - pointed out that the party had failed to listen to the voices of the people despite a shock defeat in the general elections.
“Since the Umno elections ended, what is my party doing? Playing with racial sentiments, collecting donations for our former president and repeating it again.
It isn’t wrong for us to stand in solidarity with Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, but that shouldn’t be the only thing that the “new Umno” is offering," said Khairy.
“We’ve received a knockout punch during the 14th General Election, but we are still deaf to the voices of the people,” he tweeted on Thursday (July 12).
The former Youth and Sports Minister was referring to the donation campaign launched by a group known as “Solidariti Bersama Datuk Najib” on July 5.
Khairy then took another swipe at Umno leaders, as he accused his party colleagues of stirring up racial sentiments among the Malays following the appointment of non-Muslims into top positions in the government.
“If our capital for the 15th General Election is to provoke Malays with the issues of non-Malay appointments as the Attorney-General, Chief Justice and such, then forget about taking back Putrajaya," said Khairy.
He said that these concerns are "trivial matters" compared to socio-economic issues.
The former party youth chief said that Umno is now at a crossroads, as it can choose to take a right-wing or centrist direction.
“If we are headed right, we will be finished within 10-15 years. The centrist approach isn’t easy and it will be a challenge for the grassroots to comprehend. But that is the only path available for us to survive," said Khairy
He added that he hasn't left the party because he still regards Umno as a “big tent” for Malays, where its core values centre on moderation, centrism and diversity.
“I don’t believe in the manifestation of racism that became even more prevalent after the party elections," he however added.
Khairy also said that he did not accept any positions after losing in the recently-concluded party polls because he wanted to have freedom to speak up in the party.
"I’m not jumping to any parties. I will remain with Umno. I just want to fix my house, so that it will not have an extreme far right and racist image forever. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one,” he added.