Najib Tells Malays They Have To Protect UMNO So The Party Can Protect Them
"Do not be in cahoots with those whose sole aim is to see UMNO destroyed."
By Sadho Ram — 05 Apr 2016, 02:24 PM
On 4 April, during MARA's 50th-anniversary celebration on Monday, PM Najib, who is also the UMNO President, seized the opportunity to use the symbolic event for the Malays to propagate his party's race-based ideology, saying that UMNO should remain in power for the Malay and Bumiputra community to reach greater heights
Najib reminded the Bumiputera community that they owe much of their socio-economic success to MARA, and urged them to keep UMNO in power to ensure the agency's continued survival. He told them that MARA, without which the Bumiputera community would not have attained its present socio-economic stature, would never have been founded if UMNO had not pushed for it.
"Mara came from whose belly? It was UMNO's. Without UMNO MARA would not have existed. And MARA will only continue to exist only if UMNO remains in power," he said.
Najib also chided Dr Mahathir — his number one critic — as a traitor for his willingness to co-operate with "enemies" of the community
He said that the former leader had betrayed the Malays after he aligned himself with the opposition, whose leaders Najib accused of wanting to see MARA fail.
"Do not be in cahoots with those whose sole aim is to see UMNO destroyed. If you were a leader once, then you should be supportive of the current leadership," The Star Online quoted him as saying, in an apparent dig at Dr Mahathir, who has been openly critical of Najib's leadership.
The Malay Mail reported that Najib's speech received thunderous applause when he said, "We shouldn't be sitting together and conspiring with those who want to betray UMNO. If he was once a leader he should know to defend the present leadership"
"Five decades not enough to change a community"
While telling Malays and Bumiputras to be patient when demanding change in the community, Najib was quoted by The Star as saying that, "Five decades is not enough to change a community completely. We need to understand the reality that in a developed nation, we want balanced distribution of wealth and social justice."
"We were colonised for 446 years. It is impossible for us to change the effects of that dark era within 50 years," he added.
"That's why you have to protect UMNO"
"So that UMNO can take care of MARA and MARA, in turn, can take care of millions of Malays and Bumiputras out there. For as long as UMNO is in power, MARA will continue to exist. Without UMNO, MARA will be buried, and if that happens, the Malay and bumiputra community will fall," Najid said.