Power transition not in Umno constitution: Ku Li

MUAR: Umno leaders cannot pass down party posts to anyone they like as it is the right of party members to elect the leaders, party veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said such a move, which some party leaders now called the transition of power, was not included in the party constitution.
He said he was shocked when party president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the plan to pass the president's post to deputy president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“If the president was shocked when (vice-president) Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin called for the power transition to be hastened, I was more shocked when such a transition was proposed.
“And leaders also cannot determine how long they want to stay, but they can step down whenever they like,” he said after a buka puasa session with residents and orphans at the town mosque here on Thursday.
Tengku Razaleigh, who was accompanied by Umno Bandar A branch chairman Datuk Kadar Shah Tun Sulaiman, said Umno leaders should not regard party posts as theirs and that they could give the posts away whenever they liked.
On a recent meeting with former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad, he said the former premier was concerned over the weakening of the Government after the 12th general election.
He said Dr Mahathir had called for Umno to make efforts to regain the confidence of the Malays and to unite all the Malays towards strengthening the party.
He said the former leader, who had left Umno, was also willing to return to the party, but with the conditions specified by Dr Mahathir when he left the party.
He said the meeting, which also included Muhyiddin and several former party and government leaders, was aimed at bringing the Malays together and to strengthening their position.
“Dr Mahathir was concerned that the Malays are not being taken care of at present and the Barisan Nasional Government is also losing its strength and respect.
“Dr Mahathir called for the meeting when component party leaders started talking about leaving Barisan and told us he was very concerned,” he added.

tunku : you think pak lah cares ? he doesn't care at all. what he know is he wants to be there till 2010 and take anything come on his way. it's the members to decide, whether they want destruction or stability and longevity of the party. only umno members can bring changes to the party if they are fast to react and brave enough.again if they love their party they will do it without thinking of those "speacial allowance" being cut.