In Najib Razak’s last speech before the “Father of all elections”, the Umno president focused on three points – the motion to keep him in power after the elections, Umno’s track record and how it was a party of the future.

The Umno president and prime minister said although he was aware of suggestions within Umno supreme council to propose he and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi remain as president and deputy president respectively, he did not interfere in its workings.

The Umno general assembly had voted for a no contest for the posts of president and deputy president in the party elections, due next year after the 14th general election.

“I didn’t want to get involved as I have a personal interest,” he told delegates at the 71st Umno general assembly at Putra World Trade Centre today.

“This idea did not come from the president. I didn’t discuss it with anyone either. I wanted to see who would support it in the supreme council.”

Najib said secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor had asked him about it and his reply was “let’s wait and see”.

He explained that when it was raised in the supreme council, he told the council not to propose it as a supreme council motion.

“Let it come from the delegates. That’s why it was proposed by Umno Youth.

“But you have supported it unanimously. Zahid and I promise to carry out this responsibility and continue to lead Umno to greater heights,” he told the delegates.

Najib also spoke at length about his relationship with Zahid that went back to 1988 when he backed the latter as the Bagan Datok youth chief despite opposition from the division.

“It was a tough fight but Zahid won by 11 votes. My lucky number.”

Najib said the tables were turned in 2015 when then deputy prime minister and deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin went up against him.

“Zahid defended me. This is the irony of history and Zahid did not forget his friend. That’s why Umno is back to its strength.”

The Opposition

Najib also trained his guns at the Opposition, saying it was in disarray as there was more than one person who wanted to be prime minister.

“I hear one of them is Lim Kit Siang (DAP advisor). Don’t believe me? Ask former Jawi assemblyan (Tan Beng Huat) who said it a few days ago. He said Lim wants to be PM and he left the party because Lim was a dictator.”

He also took a jibe at Pakatan Harapan chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is touted to be the interim prime minister if Pakatan Harapan wins GE14.

“Then there’s this former prime minister of 22 years who wants to be prime minister again. Even the Zimbabwe dictator has left. But there’s a 92-year-old who wants to come back.

“How can we place the future of our country in their hands?” asked Najib.

“If you want a party of the future you cannot accept a man of the past. It’s not logical. A man of the past will only bring ideas of the past.”

Umno the better choice

Najib said the Opposition cannot do what Umno and BN have done for Malaysia, especially for the economy and likened PH to a cartoon.

“First they rejected BR1M (1Malaysia People’s Aid) and GST (goods and services tax) and now they want to keep parts of it. 

“They are not serious in administering the country. But we have an agenda and we are capable of executing it,” said Najib

Najib said under his administration, the haj quota has increased, the GDP hit 6.2% in 2017, multiple public transportation such as the MRT have been successfully executed and more like ECRL and the high-speed rail to Singapore will be implemented.

Najib said under him there are no more cronies but he had to resolve problems such as the Bakun Dam project, Perwaja Steel and then the Bank Negara Malaysia forex losses.

“Soon we will have the third tallest structure in the world – Merdeka PNB 118. PNB is ours and compared to the Twin Towers which used mostly Japanese and South Koreans, ours has more local content.

“The MRT project has 48% local content,” said Najib.

Merdeka PNB 118 is a RM5 billion 118-storey tower pegged to be the third tallest building in the world. It will be built on the land adjacent to Merdeka Stadium.

Najib closed his speech by urging the delegates to fight hard to maintain the BN government.

“The momentum is with us. The wind is behind us. The majority of government officers are behind us. So too are the government-linked companies (GLC) and the government-linked investment companies (GLIC).

“They are supportive of our polices because they have faith in us. It is our duty to win the next elections,” said Najib. – December 9, 2017.