Cari pembaharuan atau Umno tutup kedai

PRESIDEN UMNO, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi khuatir UMNO akan `tutup kedai’ menjelang 20 tahun akan datang sekiranya corak sokongan rakyat kepada parti itu kekal seperti yang berlaku pada dua pilihan raya umum lalu.

Menurutnya, disebabkan persepsi dan prasangka negatif, pengundi baharu yang pada mulanya berhasrat untuk mengenali UMNO, juga akan menjauhkan diri.

Oleh itu, beliau menggesa ahli-ahli UMNO khususnya barisan pelapis parti mencipta sesuatu yang luar biasa dalam menangkis persepsi dan prasangka negatif terhadap UMNO berkenaan.

“UMNO akan bangkit semula dengan syarat persepi negatif terhadap parti ini ditukar, maka kita mesti mampu mewujudkan `keluarbiasaan’, bukan hanya slogan atau retorik tetapi ia wajib dilakukan,” katanya.

Beliau berucap pada majlis makan malam sempena ulang tahun pertama Sekolah Politik UMNO (SPU) di sini, Ahad lalu.

Ditubuhkan kira-kira setahun lalu, SPU sehingga kini berjaya melahirkan seramai 158 orang Patriot yang terdiri 48 Patriot kumpulan perintis; 54 Patriot pengukuhan dan 56 Patriot peneraju.

Umno must reinvent itself or close shop

UMNO must move out of its comfort zone and take extraordinary steps, including generating new ideas, to enable the party to regain its dominance in the country’s political landscape, party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi says.

He said that to ensure this, Umno must no longer be seen as a party rooted in nostalgia, but instead must undergo rebranding, including the adoption of political marketing strategies.

He said this approach should not only involve Umno, but also other parties within the Barisan Nasional coalition.

“We must think about our direction not only 20 years from now, but also the fact that in about 22 months we will be facing a general election. Therefore, from now on, we must have good products, branding and marketing.

“We must do something extraordinary, because if the people make the same decisions as in the 2018 and 2022 general elections – the period of our decline – I fear that 20 years from now, when Umno reaches 100 years of age, we will have to close shop,” he said.

He said this in his speech at the first anniversary dinner of the Umno Political School (SPU) in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

Also present were Umno vice-president and Pahang Mentri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail and Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also Deputy Prime Minister and Rural and Regional Development Minister, said efforts to strengthen Umno and Barisan Nasional must also involve countering negative narratives and perceptions levelled against them, which have resulted in voters distancing themselves from the party.

“Even if our product is good, but external perceptions of us remain negative, Umno will not go anywhere. This perception is our collective nightmare, so we must dismantle it properly,” he said.

Commenting on the SPU, Ahmad Zahid said graduates of the programme are Umno’s future leaders and also serve as the party’s young thinkers in helping to analyse issues and provide input to the party’s top leadership across various aspects.

 

Derma Tabung Perjuangan