UMNO needs to be rejuvenated, starting from the bottom, for it to regain the lost Malay support, some of the newly elected party division leaders said.

The new faces told The Malaysian Insight that the desire to fix Umno was one of the main reasons for them to stand at the divisional level in the recent party polls.

Noor Hariri Mohamed Nor, 44, who was elected as Pasir Mas Umno division chief, said he felt responsible to revive the party, starting with his own division.

“For Pasir Mas, my first plan is to restore the confidence of young people to support Umno.

“I also want to restore the motivation of members at the branch level who are in shock with the manner of our defeat in the last general election,” he said.

Noor Hariri is among Umno’s young leadership who now leads nearly 30%, or 54 of the total 191 divisions, of the party.

“I contested to become the Pasir Mas division leader to take on the challenge of rejuvenating the party.

“Umno is now on the right track to rejuvenate the party when more than 50 division heads are new faces. Some of them are from the Umno Youth wing.

“This is the rejuvenation process that is accepted by the grassroots,” he added.

In the 2022 general election, Umno won only 26 parliamentary seats and did not win a single federal seat in seven states – Perlis, Terengganu, Kelantan, Penang, Selangor, Kedah and Malacca.

In the 2018 general election, Umno won 54 parliamentary seats.

Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN), however, became part of the unity government in Putrajaya after forming a partnership with Pakatan Harapan (PH) as well as coalitions in Sabah and Sarawak.

Noor Hariri said the rejuvenation of Umno will be tested in the state elections that will be held in six states in the middle of this year, including in PAS-ruled Kelantan.

“We will enter the elections where we have been the opposition since 1990.

“This is challenging but at least we want to give the people of Kelantan a choice… give them a chance to see what Umno and BN can do for Kelantan,” he said.

Bringing different narratives

Meanwhile, Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya, 42, who was elected to lead the Kangar Umno division, wants to ensure that Umno remains relevant in Perlis despite not having a single seat either in parliament or in the state assembly.

He also wants to look after the welfare of party members and machinery in addition to updating the management and administration of Kangar Umno so that it is more orderly.

“As a party in the opposition state, we will bring a different narrative.

“We will be strict monitors of every action and decision of the state government,” said Fathul who is also the Perlis Umno deputy chief.

He said Kangar Umno will play the role of checks and balances in the state government.

“We want to be critics and observers who are factual, not baseless,” he said.

In the Umno election, he defeated party strongman Azlan Man who had led the division since 2014 and a former Perlis minister.

In the last general election, Azlan failed to defend the Bintong state seat he won in 2018.

Fathul said the transition of Umno’s leadership at the divisional level showed the party members’ desire for reform.

He hoped that the new leadership would be given the opportunity to manage the party smoothly without interference from any quarters.

“Give way to new people to govern, don’t mess things up,” he said.

No big impact

Ilham Centre executive director Hisommudin Bakar agreed that the changes in Umno’s leadership at the divisional level reflected the wishes of the party’s grassroots after the poor performance in the latest national polls.

However, he does not think the changes would have a big impact on Umno.

“The common people see the main leadership of Umno unchanged even though 30% of the division heads changed.

“That is Umno’s challenge now. The challenge is not the new division chiefs but the highest leadership, the president and the team in the Supreme Council,” he said.

Umno did not contest the president and deputy president positions in the recent elections.

“The leadership’s policies are what actually reflect Umno’s direction. The division heads only carry the direction set by the president and his team. The change is not significant.

“Despite the change of division leaders, some say some of these new divisional leaders remain the president’s men to ensure smooth running in Umno and that there are no elements that interfere with Umno’s process of rehabilitating the party,” he said. – April 6, 2023.