SHAH ALAM: Umno must break away from political patronage and leader-centric practices to rejuvenate and regain its strength, says its deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
He said one of Umno’s problems is that the party has an overly leader-centric stance as opposed to being party-centric.
“It is dangerous being leader-centric because when something happens to the leaders, the damage is extensive,” Mohamad said at Karangkraf’s Bicara Minda forum on Thursday (Feb 7).
He told the forum’s moderator, veteran journalist Tan Sri Johan Jaaffar, that damage to the party can be avoided if the members are party centric instead, as “leaders come and leaders go”.
Mohamad said in the changed situation, anyone could become a leader, as members would focus on the party’s struggles instead of on personalities.
“We must not be like the Red Indians (native Americans), as it is the leader who wears many feathers who is shot first.
“And when that happens, the followers do not know what to do and would run away,” he said.
Mohamad said Umno must not be like that and not know what to do when a party leader “gets shot”.
“When a leader gets shot, we defend him, and if we cannot defend him, we move on with our party struggle, which must be continued," he added.
The Umno leader also said he is against money politics as well as the abuse of power, and that one of the party’s current commitments is to purge such practices completely.
“Any strong organisation or even an empire can crash if such practices are allowed to remain.
“If Umno is to rise and become strong again, money politics, which is also wrong in terms of tradition and religion, must be eradicated," he said.
Also among the members of the audience at the forum were former Selangor Mentri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo and Umno Youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
