Rafidah against Razaleigh's EGM call, citing 'this is not the time'

Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz has disagreed with the call by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah for an Umno EGM to discuss the party’s disastrous March 8 polls outing, saying that “this is not the time”.
“We have suffered some setbacks during the elections. Let us not worsen the situation by dissipating the energy,” she said. “This is a time for the leadership to galvanise the party and Umno, with the other BN component parties, must unite and work together.”
She was speaking to reporters after chairing a Wanita Umno Exco meeting, joined by her deputy Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.
Rafidah said that galvanising the party was not a “one-man show” but steps are being taken to investigate and rectify what went wrong.
Shahrizat said that all the members are solidly behind Rafidah and there should not be any attempt of trying to divide the party.
“The party has lost. So what? Don’t underestimate us. We will rise again,” Shahrizat said.
Nevertheless, Rafidah, who maintains she is committed to strengthening and restoring public confidence in Wanita Umno, conceded it was also time for some soul-searching.
“Wanita Umno Exco, members and myself will go to the grassroots and strategise on how to win back voters,” she said.
“Our communication unit has already completed the first level analysis. We will conduct post-mortems on division and state levels, and compile the findings. The final report will be handed to the leaders of the party for them to take action. We will do what whatever needs doing for Wanita Umno to be effective in strengthening the party,” she said.
Rafidah said Wanita Umno will also call for a meeting with the component parties to strategise at the Wanita BN level.

Hisham: Time not right for Ku Li to go for No 1
It is “not a conducive time” for Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to contest for the party top post in the upcoming Umno’s poll, Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein said today.
On Wednesday, Razaleigh offered himself as a candidate to challenge Umno president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for the top post “to heal the party” after its worst electoral setback at the March 8 general elections.
Hishammuddin however poured cold water on the idea and said the Youth wing will not give support to Razaleigh, the Gua Musang division chief in Kelantan who is fondly known as Ku Li.
“I don’t agree with this at all ... we have voiced our support for the (current) leadership to rebuild the party.
“The time is not conducive on what he (Razaleigh) is trying to do because this raises questions whether he is sincere or trying to take advantage (of the current political crisis),” he told reporters in Putrajaya.
Hishammuddin, who is also education minister, was met at his ministry after chairing the first post-cabinet meeting.
His new deputies, Dr Wee Ka Siong and Razali Ismail, were also present.
Hishammuddin also said that it was “not appropriate” for Razaleigh to offer himself to run in the party polls at a time when the nomination process has not even started.
Asked whether he was of the view that Razaleigh’s move would divide the party, the Umno Youth chief retorted, “I don’t know, you have to ask him”.
Razaleigh’s offer was made in the wake of calls for Abdullah, who is also the premier, to step down after the ruling Barisan Nasional’s dismay electoral performance which shook the party.
A number of senior Umno officials have resigned to take responsibility for the debacle.
Razaleigh, 71, has argued that he was not too old to lead Umno if he could secure enough nominations for him to run in the party election to take place later this year.
Razaleigh had previously challenged and narrowly lost to then Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the 1987 party elections.
In 2004, he tried to challenge Abdullah for the presidency but failed to obtain the necessary nominations beyond the single one from his Gua Musang division. He needed about 60 nominations to clinch the right to challenge the Umno leader.

tunku : yes this is the time to galvanize umno by removing all the dirts and replacing them with fresh and clean faces.if this is not the right time, then when? When Umno and BN becomes the opposition in the parliament? I am sad to see that most of Umno members is still sleeping.at least Ku Li is very brave enough to challenge the president.