Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said Umno leaders should walk the talk and stop disappointing the Malay community with their many rhetoric.

"What is important is that in a political process, a leader should ask himself what is the outcome of the political process and what is the bottom line of his leadership," he was quoted as saying by the state Bernama news agency.

He said the success of one's leadership was his ability to bring about changes or transformation for the betterment of the people so that the future generation can reap the fruits of their struggle.

Najib who is deputy Umno president noted that a leader should also have a benchmark to gauge whether his leadership had made an impact in bringing about changes for the community or otherwise.

He expressed disappointment in seeing leaders hold certain positions in the party, but fail to make any changes for the good of the people, noting that there was no benchmark to measure the effectiveness of their leadership.

"An effective leadership is one that brings about changes from a good situation to one that is better," he said.

Penang issue

Najib also responded to the Penang Malays issue and said Malay leaders should find a formula to empower the Malay community by reorganising the existing system to avoid feeling marginalised.

He noted two things that could be done to deal with the issue; one was to empower the Deputy Chief Minister's post held by Umno, and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had directed Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop to conduct a study on the issue and the problems of the Penang Malays.

He said that Penang Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon should also make efforts to hold talks openly with Malay leaders in the state to discuss whatever problems arising.

On the proposed rotation of the chief minister's post to maintain harmony in Barisan Nasional and among the races, Najib said government had disagreed with this move

"I have spoken to Dr Koh that he's the chief minister to all races and not be guided by mere rhetorics, but follow up with actions," he said.

He later said Umno struggles must be realised and all quarters would like to see developments and changes taking shape.