Met at the Parliament lobby today, the son of former premier and Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad said “they see that I represent (change)”.
“I’m hoping those divisions that have not yet conducted their respective meetings will nominate (me), if they too want change,” said Mukhriz, 44.On a lighter note, he quipped that he was more keen to see what the opposition has to say about the endorsement he has received to date.
“Now they see there’s movement within Umno Youth for this change and that we are ready to face them in any by-election and general election,” said the Jerlun MP.
Although he has fellow-aspirants Khairy Jamaluddin and Dr Mohd Khir Toyo trailing in the race already, Mukhriz said he is certain that they will qualify to contest the post in the party polls next March.
“It’s still a long way (off). There are still more than 130 divisions that have not yet held their meetings. I’m very certain they (Khairy and Mohd Khir) will qualify in the end,” said Mukhriz.
Over the weekend, Khairy received 19 nominations while former Selangor menteri besar Mohd Khir received 12.
Candidates for the Umno Youth chief’s post need 20 percent or 38 nominations from the 191 Umno divisions in order to be eligible for the contest.
'No' To Single Party Idea
On another matter, Mukhriz disagreed with the idea of allowing people to join Barisan Nasional (BN) as direct members, as proposed by coalition chairperson and premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Saturday.
“I’m afraid I don’t agree with that. I feel that all the component parties have successfully played their role all this while since the inception of the BN.“I also feel that Umno and the 12 other (component) parties have an important role to play in ensuring that all races are adequately represented in BN without the need to become just one party.”
The proposal is being seen as a way for BN to counter the surging popularity of opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Abdullah had proposed that BN supporters should be entitled to join the coalition without having to be a member of any of component party.
Ini lah ahli politik Umno. Sepatutnya duduk dalam Parlimen dan berdebat pasal bajet 2009, bukan berpolitik sakan. Pentingkan tembolok sendiri saja dari nasib rakyat yang mengundi mereka. Makan gaji buta. Aku sebagai pembayar cukai tak rela duit aku dibaham oleh puak2 gini ...
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