UMNO had lost its moral compass when it prioritised money instead of good leadership, said Mohamad Hasan.

The Umno deputy president said Umno no longer championed the Malay language, the competitiveness of Malays or better education for the community.

He noted that the party had stopped fighting for mature politics or stood for leadership with integrity.

“What was fought for was the survival of certain leaders who could afford to dish out rewards in the form of contracts and projects,” said the Umno deputy president at the joint opening of the Wanita, Youth and Puteri congress at the party’s annual general assembly in Kuala Lumpur.

As a result of this, the party had lost the trust of more than half the Malays, he added.

“When the economy grew, a new generation of Malay upper class was born. This created a new culture about the ‘power of money’.

“This culture had spread into the political structure of Umno with its leaders as the main advocates who planted and nurtured the belief that money is power.

“Everything is about money and everything needs to be rewarded,” said Mohamad.

Former Umno president Najib Razak coined the phrase “cash is king” in 2015. In a Facebook post last week, he said the term was used to explain “money for the people”.

Mohamad said technological advancement has given birth to a new generation of Malays who do not conform to norms, or share Umno’s values, and this was one of the factors that caused Umno’s defeat.

Another reason for Umno’s failure was its inability to move on with the times.

“Umno’s structure, culture and political thinking is in the 20th century while Malaysia has moved to the 21st century.”

Mohamad said he took responsibility for the defeat.

“I sincerely apologise for failing to lead Umno and Barisan Nasional to success in the 14th general election.

“Despite all the work put in, we had failed to stem the rise of Malaysians. As such, we must accept this harsh reality.

“We cannot win for a thousand years. Sooner or later, we were bound to lose and it happened in this (past) election,” said Mohamad. – September 28, 2018.