Najib to Malays: Where would you be without Umno?
Umno president Najib Abdul Razak today reminded the Malay community that their rights would not be championed if Umno was not around to protect their interests.
Umno president Najib Abdul Razak today reminded the Malay community that their rights would not be championed if Umno was not around to protect their interests.
"Without Umno, where would we be? Without Umno where would Malays be?" he asked Umno delegates towards the end of his speech at the Umno general assembly this morning.
"To Allah we plead, don't let the Malays disappear in the world, to Allah we plead for help," he said.
"Where would the Malays bring themselves, if Umno is not around? Where would the heart go, where would the taste go, if the struggle of Malays is no longer there?
"Do we want the Malay struggle to be destroyed in this land? Would Malays be willing to be sidelined in their own land?
"Where else would the grouses of the Malays be heard, if not in this assembly, if not to this party?" he held.
He said that it is at the annual Umno assembly that the welfare of civil servants is protected, the monarchs are given honour, and Malay bumiputera institutions defended.
"Don't we ever forget, it is at the Umno general assembly that the agenda of the Malays and bumiputeras are mentioned," he said.
He said that because Malays are the majority race in the country, the bumiputera empowerment agenda should become a national agenda.
"What is the use if the country is developed, but its majority race is sidelined and not protected?" he asked.
However, Najib stressed that he wanted to see the development of the Malay and bumiputera race without sidelining "protection to any other race".
Najib also extended an olive branch to other political parties on the possibility of joint talks, hinting at dialogues with PAS.
"Even though we are slandered, taunted, this party has never gotten tired to extend an unity handshake with any political parties. All, in order to see Muslims unite once again," he said.
