KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin today said a shift towards a progressive mindset was key to the party’s survival amid preparations for a pivotal battle ahead in the coming polls.Speaking before delegates at what is to be the wing’s last annual general assembly before Umno heads into elections, the Rembau MP said it was his wing’s duty to ensure Prime Minister and party chief Najib Tun Razak’s reform efforts are reflected in their struggle.
This includes the need to shed the usual “hardline” and often hawkish skin that had so often characterised the wing in the past and shift towards “transition and openness”.
His reform tone, however, came amid what is seen as a regressive backdrop when Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin was again perceived to have used the racial card in a bid to raise Malay support.
In his opening speech yesterday, the deputy prime minister warned against Malays “losing power on their own soil” if they voted for Pakatan Rakyat which he claimed would sell the country’s ethnic majority off for power.
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