TENGKU Razaleigh Hamzah has declared he is on a mission to restore the party’s legal and constitutional rights as well as its place in national politics.

The Gua Musang MP said the party should return to its basics and bring back the idealism that he says was lost after Umno Baru was set up in 1988.

“I am part of the original Umno Parliamentary Party with the mission to restore Umno’s legal and constitutional rights and to do whatever necessary to restore its place in national politics and the national interest,” the veteran said debating the Royal Address in the Dewan Rakyat today.

In 1988, the party was deregistered and Tengku Razaleigh noted the deregistration was more of a political move.

The veteran Umno leader declared the decisions by the court then and the Registrar of Societies were based on politics and in favour of the incumbent leadership instead of the law.

“The length of time (it) has taken me to take this step of challenging the legitimacy of that decision to declare Umno unlawful and deregister reflects the difficulties and seriousness of the issues involved,” he said.

“I had to be absolutely certain that I was right in saying the de-registration of Umno in 1988 was nullity because it was a breach of all legal and constitutional principles. It was an act of subterfuge and a political coup d’état,” he told the House.

He said for Umno to continue playing a national role, the historical injustice has to be rectified and the political, legal and constitutional right of the original Umno must be reclaimed.

He said unlike the outfit that was formed after 1988 – the new Umno – the original Umno was inclusive, committed to constitutional democracy and the rule of law, and it understood that quality leadership was fundamental to achieving the objectives of the party for the nation and its role in leading the country.

“We need to change this state of affairs before it happens again. It was a capture of the party and the state for its resources and as a means to enrich those who control the state apparatus,” he said.

He said the new Umno became a commercial enterprise and the party of a new political class that was looking to enrich themselves.

“It destroyed the soul of the Malays. Greed became king. And there was a national meltdown of public morality, the standards of conduct of those who seek public responsibility and political office,” he said.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court declared Umno illegitimate on February 4, 1988. This was after a group of 11 leaders who were in favour of Tengku Razaleigh resorted to legal action to challenge the results of the party elections, which took place on 24 April, 1987.

The issue of phantom divisions or unregistered divisions was raised in the proceeding, which eventually led to the de-registration of Umno. The party was re-registered in February 1988. – September 21, 2021.