UMNO vice president Johari Abdul Ghani proposed that Umno strengthens the party, candidates and machinery to emerge as a dominant force to win in the next general election (GE).

Johari said even if a national icon is fielded as a candidate in the GE, he or she might lose if the party represented by the candidate is weak or not popular, just like what had happened during the GE.

He added that candidates must be identified early and their values continuously monitored before choosing them to represent Umno in the general election.

“Our Umno is quite unique, if we want to nominate a candidate, sometimes the announcement is only made two or three days before nomination. And now we are in the status of losers in the GE.

“If we can identify candidates to contest in the election, we can notify them four and half years earlier. We can review the candidate’s performance every year. If the candidate does not perform in the first year, we can pick another candidate. What is important is to identify them first,” he said.

Johari who is also the member of parliament for Titiwangsa made the proposals during his winding up speech at the 2023 Umno General Assembly at the Putra World Trade Centre, in Kuala Lumpur today.

According to Johari the election machinery in every constituency that candidates contest, must also be strengthened and if there are issues that have the potential to weaken the party, these should be dealt with quickly.

“The candidate and the election machinery are one entity. If we want to win, we cannot separate one from the other.

“If there are elements in the election machinery that is not right, it must be resolved quickly. We should not set up the machinery only when parliament is dissolved because it will be almost impossible to carry out the task,” he said.

Johari said Umno supreme leaders and members need to have the ‘winning mentality’ if the party aspires to return as a dominant force since the performance of Barisan Nasional (BN) has waned and been going down in recent general elections when compared with other parties.

Another Umno vice president, Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail in his winding up speech said a think tank panel would be established through the Pengkaderan Council that was set up on March 22, this year.

Wan Rosdy who chairs the council said the think tank would play an advisory role and offer views and recommendations that are relevant.

He said the council has plans to set up a political school to groom winnable, acceptable and likeable candidates.

“Through the political school, I believe we will be able to educate more members of the party who are loyal and committed to the party. I am also confident that the political school can produce a generation that can inherit and uphold the struggles of the party to gain the trust of the people,” he said. – Bernama, June 10, 2023.