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By IAN MCINTYRE GUA MUSANG: The proposed extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM) for Umno is not a platform to seek positions but to discuss the party’s setback in the general election, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said.
The veteran Umno leader, who had proposed the EGM, said the meeting could be held on May 11 in conjunction with the day Umno was founded. Asked if the EGM would derail branch and division annual general meetings when elections of office bearers are scheduled, he said the EGM was solely to discuss Umno’s performance in the election. He said that for the EGM to go ahead, the 210 divisions must hold their EGMs to pass a resolution calling for a national EGM. If more than half the divisions passed the resolution, then the Umno secretariat must fix a suitable date for the meeting. Tengku Razaleigh said the Gua Musang Umno division, which he heads, had fixed April 4 for its EGM. On the response from other divisions, he said he had sent letters to all division heads and committee members on the matter. “It is up to them. I am just proposing as the party has never faced such a dire situation before. “We have lost five states and the two-thirds majority in Parliament. If this is not serious, then I do not know what is. We can deny it and leave our future to fate.” Asked about his offer to contest the top post in the party, he said the question was forced onto him by journalists but stressed that the offer still stands. On his contest for the top post in 1987, he said: “If people say that a contest would fracture the party then we should not have an election in the first place. “We should appoint a lifetime president and pray hard that nothing happens to him. It goes against the spirit of Umno.” He painted an extremely difficult future for the country owing to the political uncertainty and the worsening global economy. “Sooner or later, we would also be affected as we are a major trading nation. Foreign direct investments crucial in transferring of technology and creating jobs may dry up,” he said. - STAR
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