UMNO: Jangan Tinggal Daku...

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 — Umno information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib has urged Gerakan members to be patient in facing tough times and not to be fooled by promises made by the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat.

“Like the Malay saying Dengar guruh di langit curah air di tempayan (emptying water out of its tank at the sound of thunder.),” he told The Malaysian Insider.

He added that the crisis faced by Umno and the Barisan Nasional should be resolved through discussion and dialogue among the component parties.

"The view is being made when the BN is at its weakest point. I think it is better for all of us to sit down and discuss the problems and how to win back the people's support," said the Rural Development Minister.

"It is easy for anyone to make such statement when the BN is weak," he added.

In an interview with monthly magazine Off the Edge, Gerakan advisor Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik said if given a chance to vote, the majority of the party members would choose to leave the BN.

Dr Lim blamed arrogance, racism and corruption in Umno as the reason behind the BN’s disastrous March 8 general election, where the ruling coalition lost its two-thirds majority and failed to form government in five states.

"Then you had the Umno assembly and everyone saw how racist its members can become. All these things put us as a component party in a very difficult situation. And then Hindraf came into the picture. So we knew before going into March 8 that it was very bad," said Dr Lim.

However, he said he was still willing to give Umno another chance.

"We are willing to work with and talk to our Umno partners to change and follow what people want in terms of less racial politics, more transparency. Don't just say you want to go against corruption; you must really go against corruption, starting with your own party — with your own party leadership — instead of just going for the civil servants," he reportedly said.

In the March 8 general election, Gerakan managed to retain only two out of 10 parliamentary seats and lost control of Penang.

Its deputy secretary general, Datuk Lee Kah Choon, left the party last April after accepting the offer of the DAP-led Penang government to be a director of the Penang Development Corporation and executive committee chairman of InvestPenang.

Last month, veteran leader Datuk Dr Toh Kin Woon resigned from the party and publicly endorsed PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's campaign for the Permatang Pauh by-election.

-TMI