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Najib wants party delegates to support his reforms...

Datuk Seri Najib, the Umno president, leads delegates in a rousing cheer at the party's general assembly this morning. (Reuters pic)

...for CHANGE for Umno to become a "progressive, dynamic and responsive" party.

Speaking at the opening of the Umno annual general assembly - his first policy speech since taking over the party presidency last March - Datuk Seri Najib Razak told the 2,541 delegates that Umno must change if it wants to retain its unbroken grip on power since Independence after the next general election.

He said that Umno aimed to reform itself into a “progressive, dynamic and responsive” party.

“Therefore, to continue to survive, Umno has no choice but to embrace reality. Umno must open its doors for change and improvement.”

To kick off the reform process, party delegates will have a closed-door debate today on seven amendments to the Umno constitution.

The seven motions include one to increase the voting base to elect leaders to the division level whereby 146,500 members will be eligible to vote as compared to only 2,510 delegates now.

It is a sign that the spirit of democracy remains alive in Umno, he said.

“Clearly, no other political party in Malaysia is brave enough to do the same,” he added and asked the delegates to abandon the vote-buying practice after the amendments were passed.

In reference to the party's landslide victory in the recent Bagan Pinang by-election, he warned the delegates that the victory did not indicate the party's full recovery.

“One swallow does not make a summer. We cannot be complacent or happy thinking that we are the party of choice just because other parties cannot be trusted, or in other words the best among the worse,” said Datuk Seri Najib.

But he would like to see a repeat of the success of winning over the support of the non-Malays in Bagan Pinang.

“Clearly, in mixed constituencies we want Umno to be accepted as a party that fights for not only the Malays but also other ethnic groups in Malaysia,” he said.

He called on the party to change the candidate-selection method in elections saying that the individual has to be accepted by the local community and possess the quality to serve at three important levels, the people, the party and the nation.

Datuk Seri Najib, who is also prime minister, took over the party six months ago from the then Umno president Tun Abdullah Badawi in wake of the unprecedented setback in the March 8 general election last year.

The party president reminded the delegates that Umno will remain a "centrist" party. “We are neither a leftist nor a right-wing party,” he said.

"Since its formation 60 years ago, Umno has accommodated the left, right, nationalists and religious scholars."

In his more than two-hour speech titled "Uphold tradition, and fostering change", Datuk Seri Najib stressed that Umno is a party which championed the welfare of the people.

"Umno must not be seen as representing certain people. Instead, the party must be seen as an inclusive party which put the peoples' interests at the forefront, and not oneself".

He also criticised the opposition for branding Umno as a racist party.

"If it is true Malays are racist as alleged, we would not accommodate other ethnic groups such as vernacular schools, and it would not be possible for Umno to work with other races and component party members.”

Najib said following BN's heavy losses in last year's general election, the opposition had predicted the demise of Umno.

He said many people had wanted to “mentalqinkan” on Umno.

“They say Umno is buying extra time before it dies. This is not the first time that they have made such a prediction

“When a group of members split from Umno to form PAS, such premonition was made and similarly after the May 13, 1969 racial riots or the 1988 Umno elections, which led to the formation of Parti Semangat 46, or the 1999 elections.”

He said Malaysians had sent a strong message to Umno at the 2008 general election. However, he vouched that Umno would rise again.

“Alhamdulillah, Umno has managed to surpass all those challenges and we have managed to rise and become stronger. Umno was formed with the ulama, educationists, farmers, fishermen and traders.”

“If we remain united, work towards our common goal and put in the effort, we will climb the highest mountain and go down the deepest ravine and swim the deepest ocean. We shall overcome the odds,” he said.

Bagan Pinang: Isa scores landslide win...

Barisan Nasional’s Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad has won the Bagan Pinang by-election with a thumping majority of 5,435 votes.

Tan Sri Isa, the former Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar, who was stripped of his vice-presidency post by the party for money politics in 2005, polled 8,013 votes against PAS state commissioner Zulkefly Mohamad Omar’s 2,578.

The by-election was held following the death of Barisan Nasional’s Azman Mohamad Noor due to a blood disorder on Sept 4.

Azman had won the seat against PAS’ Ramli Ismail in the last general election with a 2,333-vote majority, polling 6,430 votes against PAS’ 4,097.

The official result was announced by returning officer Abdul Wahad Samsuddin at the Port Dickson Municipal Council Hal at 8pm amidst jubilant Umno supporters.

In an immediate reaction, PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub said that his party accepts the decision of Bagan Pinang voters.

BN has won all eight polling districts, including the three Indian estates, which showed a return in support from the minority community.

After a series of by-election defeats, the Bagan Pinang victory has provided the much- needed boost for the BN which until now has lost all but one by-election since the March 8 general elections last year.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Umno deputy president, has described the victory as significant and a positive sign for BN.

The by-election contest tally now stands at 7-2, with Pakatan Rakyat previously sweeping all except for Sarawak's Batang Ai.

D-Day for voters in Bagan Pinang (Update)

Update - 5:35pm: Polling has ended at 5pm and counting of the votes is expected to start soon. As at 4pm, voter turnout was 69.5 per cent with 6,301 voters having cast their ballots

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It’s D-Day for voters in Bagan Pinang, Negri Sembilan, as they go to the polls today to decide on their representative in the 36-member state assembly.

Barisan Nasional is being represented by Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad, 59, who will face PAS’ Zulkefly Mohamad Omar, 45.

This is the the ninth by-election in the country after the March 8 general election last year and is being held following the death of Barisan Nasional’s Azman Mohamad Noor on Sept 4.

The late Azman had won the seat against PAS’ Ramli Ismail in the last general election with a 2,333-vote majority, polling 6,430 votes against PAS’ 4,097.

Tan Sri Mohd Isa, who was Mentri Besar for 22 years (1982 to 2004), was previously a six-term wakil rakyat while Zulkefly, a state PAS commissioner, had contested and lost the Lenggeng state seat on three occasions.

However, both will not be casting their ballots this time as they are registered as voters elsewhere.

Tan Sri Isa appears to be the favourite to retain this seat for the BN and put an end to a series of by-electoral defeats for the federal ruling coalition in the hands of Pakatan Rakyat.

There will be eight voting centres in this by-election — Taman Eastern, Ladang Atherton, Siliau, Ladang Bradwall, Sua Betong, Kg Bagan Pinang, Si Rusa and Teluk Kemang.

Despite being raised near here, Tan Sri Mohd Isa, who is also Teluk Kemang Umno chief, has never contested the seat. He was Linggi assemblyman for five terms and Jempol MP once.

A former Umno vice-president, he has had to give up his post after being found guilty of breaching the party’s code of ethics in 2005.

He was suspended for six years but this was later reduced to three.

Bagan Pinang is a traditional BN stronghold. Malays form the majority of the voters with 62.8 per cent followed by the Indians (20.7 per cent), Chinese (11 per cent) and others (5.5 per cent).

It is located in the Teluk Kemang parliamentary seat. Four other seats in the constituency are Port Dickson, Linggi, Chuah and Lukut.

Chuah and Port Dickson are held by the PKR while Lukut is under DAP. Only Linggi belongs to Barisan.

Barisan controls 20 of the 36 state seats in the state assembly. The Opposition has 15 seats, with 10 belonging to the DAP while PKR and PAS have four and one respectively.

Bagan Pinang: By-election result as early as 8pm

If all goes well, the Election Commission (EC) should be able to know the result of the by-election between 7.15pm and 7.30pm.

But the result will be announced after the Maghrib (evening) prayers at 8pm when the supporters of both parties will be present, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said Saturday.

He said eight polling centres with 18 polling streams had been made available for the 9,060 normal voters in Bagan Pinang.

There 4,604 postal voters in the constituency. Thursday and Friday had been allocated for them to cast their votes.

As rain was forecast in the constituency Sunday, Abdul Aziz urged voters to come to vote early. Voting will be closed at 5pm.

The Bagan Pinang by-election is a straight fight between Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad of the Barisan Nasional and Zulkefly Omar of PAS. It is being held following the death of state assemblyman, Azman Mohd Noor of the BN, on Sept 4. Source Bernama.

MCA EGM: Ong and Chua will have to go

MCA delegates dealt a devastating blow to their top two leaders when they adopted a motion declaring no confidence in party president Ong Tee Keat and rejected a motion to reinstate his suspended deputy, Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, at its extra general meeting (EGM) yesterday.

The 2,304 delegates passed a no confidence vote against Datuk Seri Ong by a wafer-thin 14 vote majority.

They also voted against a motion to specifically reinstate Dr Chua as deputy president with a smaller majority but voted to reinstate him as a full party member with a majority of 109 votes.

In other words, the outcome of the EGM has left the party without a president and a deputy president.

In a brief statement after the the EGM Dr Chua said that he accepted the decision of party delegates.

As for Ong he had said in an interview with the Star that he would resign should he fail to get the backing from the delegates.

However, according to a Malaysiakini report the positions of MCA president and deputy president will be determined by the party's central committee on Thursday.

MCA secretary-general Wong Foon Meng said the powerful central committee would meet at Wisma MCA at 1 pm on that day to discuss the outcome of the EGM.

The current power struggle in MCA is not the first time facing the party.

In 2002 a fall-out beween the then party president, Ling Liong Sik, and his deputy, Lim Ah Lek over the purchase of Nanyang Press Holding Berhad resulted in the resignations of both leaders from their respectives posts,

They were replaced by Ong Ka Ting as president and Chan Kong Choy as the deputy.

The results of the three resolutions are:

1) Motion of no confidence against Ong

For: 1,155

Against: 1,141

Spoilt votes: 8

Majority: 14

2) To annul the party's decision to expel/suspend Chua

For: 1,204

Against: 1,095

Spoilt votes:5

Majority: 109

3) To reinstate Chua as MCA deputy president

Against: 1,184

For: 1,110

Spoilt votes: 10

Majority: 74

Read the Star report: MCA EGM: Delegates make dramatic decisions

Bagan Pinang: No duplication of names in electoral roll says EC

Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar has refuted claims by PAS that there were duplication of names in the Bagan Pinang electoral roll, particularly involving postal voters.

He said the EC has scrutinised the Bagan Pinang electoral roll and found out that the duplication of names does not exist, he was quoted by Bernama.

Wan Ahmad was commenting a PAS proposal seeking a court injunction to prevent 253 postal voters from casting votes today claiming there was duplication of names in the electoral roll.

Pas was reported to have been upset over alleged irregularities in the postal voting process.

PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali made the claim during a meeting with EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof yesterday.

Wan Ahmad said PAS had given EC a list of names said to be duplicated in the Bagan Pinang electoral roll.

The list is said to contain names of voters who are allegedly able to vote twice - as postal and ordinary voter - or are able to vote in more than one constituency.

There are 4,600 postal voters - who make up more than a third of the electorate in the constituency and who will begin casting their ballots for two days starting today (read here and here).

Bagan Pinang: BN on track to victory, opposition struggling

After five days of campaigning, it appears that the Barisan Nasional has the upper hand in retaining its stronghold in the Bagan Pinang state by-election.

Indications are that the opposition alliance is struggling to make significant headway despite adopting various approaches and strategies.

Instead they are kept busy most of the time responding to the issues raised by the BN.

The BN's strategy of highlighting local development and fielding an experienced, charming and friendly candidate - Isa Samad - who is a local, seems to have neutralised some national issues raised by the opposition.

The opposition alliance, particularly PAS, seems to have focused more on local issues to woo the voters in Bagan Pinang, something which is seen as departing from their normal practice of focusing on national issues in their election campaign.

For example, they raised issues such as abandoned construction projects near the beach, inefficient sewerage system which pollutes the sea and traffic congestion but some party insiders are doubtful that this would swing the votes their way.

However, PAS' Bagan Pinang by-election director, Salahuddin Ayub, said they were still playing up the national issue but at the same time needed to focus on local issues as the BN had portrayed Isa as an experienced candidate to serve the constituency,having been a mentri besar before this.

"We need to highlight the local issues here to counter this, to show his failures," he said.

Whether it is just strategy or due to other factors, some members of the opposition pact privately revealed that the overall response towards their campaign had not been encouraging, even in the non-Malay areas.

"The reception towards us in some areas is still cold. Logistics are lousy. At the moment, we believe the majority of the non-Malay vote are still with us.

"We can be sure about the Indians but we are not so sure about the Chinese," a DAP leader told Bernama.

The DAP leader, who refused to be identified, said most of the voters they meet are cold towards them when they campaigned from house to house.

"I think the locals, particulary the Chinese, are very much reserved. They don't want to be associated with our ceramah. That explains the poor turnout at ceramah organised by us," he said.

Therefore the opposition was not sure of achieving the target of 75 per cent support from the non-Malay voters, from 65 per cent previously.

"It is a battle that is hard to fight as there are no strong issues for us to focus on. Can't find good rotten eggs. Permatang Pasir was easy as the BN had already committed suicide. Here the situation is different," he said.

A Gerakan leader who has been campaigning in the predominatly Indian areas concurred that there was some positive leaning towards the BN by the Indian voters as the reception they received in their house-to-house campaign was not as hostile as during the general election last year.

"In terms of support, Umno definitely has between 4,500 and 5,000 Malay votes while PAS hardcore is around 1,500 votes. In the last general election, PAS obtained 4,500 votes from the non-Malays.

"However, in this by-election, we can forsee some changes. The situation will improve in terms of the non-Malay votes although we expect it to be small," he said, adding that the campaign was divided and focused on small groups of voters.

Therefore, in the coming days, the BN is pushing hard for some changes among the non-Malay voters with a large-scale Mooncake festival tomorrow night and a grand dinner the following night to draw larger crowds.

"All these will be attended by the Deputy Prime Minister. Last time we only had 42 per cent of the Chinese voters here supporting the BN. However, this time around, we are targeting to hit 50 per cent," said Teluk Kemang MCA division chairman Yit Lee Kok.

The Chinese voters are mostly concentrated in eluk Kemang while the rest are scattered in small numbers in places like Sua Betong, Si Rusa, Silliau Town, Taman Eastern and Ladang Atherton.

BN election operatives claimed that another indication that PAS was struggling to make any headway was when they decided to go back to their old tactic of claiming that the election roll was not clean as a way out in the event they performed badly in this by-election.

PAS has also been reported that it may apply for an injunction to postpone the Bagan Pinang by-election if the Election Commission (EC) does not resolve the issue of the alleged irregularities in the electoral roll.

The party claimed that the irregularities happened when voters' names were registered in two areas, one under a military identification card and the other using the MyKad.-- BERNAMA

Bagan Pinang by-election: Isa Samad has already paid his dues says PM...

...and he deserves a second chance.

Defending Barisan Nasional's decision to field Tan Sri Isa Samad for the Bagan Pinang state by-election, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said the former has already paid his dues.

Tan Sri Isa, a former menteri besar of Negeri Sembilan, was suspended from Umno in 2004 after being found guilty of practicing money politics.

Speaking to students in Paris, Datuk Seri Najib said: "The question here is whether he deserved a second chance or not."

And to the Prime Minister and the Umno leadership Tan Sri Isa does (deserve a second chance) because he is a loyal party member and has been working hard for the party.

The NST has the report:

Bagan Pinang by-election: Isa paid dues, deserves second chance, says PM Najib

2009/10/05

Nuraina A Samad reporting from Paris

PARIS: Tan Sri Isa Samad has paid his dues and deserves a second chance as the Barisan Nasional candidate in the Bagan Pinang state by-election, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said here.

"Action has already been taken against him for his offences, and he lost his party posts. The punishment he got was severe. The question is whether he deserves a second chance.

"In our system, criminals can be given a second chance. People who have been sentenced by the courts are given a second chance," he said in response to a question by a Malaysian student during a gathering at Pavillon Davphine at Place du Marechal de Lattre Tassigny, here Sunday.

Engineering student Ahmed Syukri Amin Ahmed Ismail wanted the Prime Minister to explain why BN picked the former Menteri Besar whom Umno had found guilty of money politics, as Bagan Pinang candidate in the forthcoming state by-election.

Najib who is in France for a four-day official visit said Isa did not break the country's laws, but the party's ethics. Besides, he is not being picked for a Cabinet position but as a candidate for the state assembly.

He said the Opposition could raise all sorts of allegations but the fact is that they are faced with more serious ones.

"Isa has paid his dues, is loyal to the party and has, in fact, been working hard for the party.

"The party's primary consideration is (to choose) someone who can effectively serve the constituency, someone popular and someone whose leadership people can accept.

"Our reading is that Tan Sri Isa is the most popular candidate and the right choice for Bagan Pinang."

Najib who is accompanied by his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, later hosted a 1Malaysia open house.