UMNO presidential candidate Khairy Jamaluddin said he will be a party president who can be criticised, not a “dewa politik” (political god) who was invincible.

He said he wanted to be the kind of leader who party members could tell off and criticise.

“If I become president, you can tell me your views, criticise me. I don’t want to have absolute power,” he told Penang Umno members in Seberang Jaya tonight.

Khairy said Umno had its worst election outing “not really because of one person”, but because the party culture did not allow the members to defy the leader.

“We have been pointing the finger at that person but we also have to bear the burden of responsibility.

“In Umno, we have a system that is not open. The grassroots cannot talk to the president.

“We protected the president, made him invincible, a ‘dewa politik’ whom nobody dared to criticise,” the former party youth chief said.

“We regret that. So I want to be a president who can be criticised, not an Umno political god.”

Khairy did not name the leader but it is understood he was referring to former president Najib Razak, whose connection to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal was detrimental to Umno and Barisan Nasional.

During a question-and-answer session with the party members after his speech, he admitted that the leadership had been wrong when they failed to question and criticise Najib, the former prime minister, over the 1MDB issue.

He said they talked about the issue, but “slowed down” after Muhyiddin Yassin and Shafie Apdal were sacked from the cabinet, and later from Umno.

Muhyiddin was Umno deputy president and deputy prime minister while Shafie was Umno vice-president and rural and regional development minister.

Khairy admitted that they were wrong, adding that he had just told newly-elected Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki that the latter was free to criticise him if he became president and did something wrong.

“He can tell me off. I told him he doesn’t have to take care of me. He has to take care of the party.”

The former youth and sports minister also said he would share the party president’s power with the grassroots.

He said party polls cannot be deferred but must be held every three years without fail to let leaders compete for all party positions.

He said he no longer waited a scenario where the president occupied the post “his entire life and not listen to party grassroots”.

An Umno under him, Khairy said, would also see all state Umno and their grassroots choosing their own candidates for general elections, instead of the president who received reports but did not know the ground well. – June 28, 2018.