UMNO needs fighters now that it is an opposition party, said Najib Razak.

The former president said members who wished to quit after Barisan Nasional’s crushing defeat in the 14th general election were free to do so.

“If people are not loyal to us, let’s leave them alone. If they want to go over to the others side, let them. I want Umno now to be filled with real warriors,” Najib said during his speech at Pekan Umno  today. 

The former prime minister said members must be prepared to make sacrifices for the party during troubled times. 

The Pekan MP said he resigned as Umno president because he accepted the responsibility for the  party’s defeat in the elections. 

“I accept the defeat. It’s the responsibility of a president, I resigned. I did not run away from the principle.”

Najib said Umno needed to reinvent itself to serve the people as an opposition party.

“We need to do things differently. We need to fight for people’s issues. We cannot approve anymore allocations. We need to be sincere in our duty,” Najib said, adding that he will be fighting to rebuild the party as well

On a lighter note, Najib told his audience they no longer needed to line up outside his Pekan residence for favours as he no longer had the means to help them.

“I can’t help you anymore,” he said to much laughter. – May 20, 2018.