Umno will face destruction if its members fear to speak the truth and choose only to be \u201cyes men\u201d to ensure their own political survival, vice-president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal said today in an apparent swipe at party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak.<\/p>\n
Speaking at an Umno divisional meeting here, days after his own criticism of Najib saw him axed from the federal Cabinet, the former minister suggested that Umno had steered off course in its fight to elevate the economic status of the Malays.<\/p>\n
The party, he added, has not adequately addressed \u201cbread and butter\u201d issues facing the community.<\/p>\n
The Sabah Umno leader also insisted that his criticism of Najib was only done out of love for a party he has stood by for more than 30 years, which he said is now weighed down by a massive leadership crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to speak the truth. In the struggle, you cannot fear speaking the truth, and if you continue to hold on to the belief that we are in this for the people, then inshaAllah, we will not be rejected.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor this party that I love, I pledge here before you that I will continue to fight for this party\u2026 but is it wrong for me to advice? We cannot all be \u2018yes men\u2019. We cannot have this\u2026 it will weaken us,\u201d Shafie said in his opening speech at the Hulu Selangor Umno wings divisional meeting here.<\/p>\n
Shafie and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin were among the most notable Umno casualties in Najib\u2019s Cabinet reshuffle announced on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Najib said it was one of the toughest decisions he had to make but insisted that it was the right move as he needed a \u201cunited\u201d Cabinet behind him. Both Shafie and Muhyiddin have been critical of Najib\u2019s continued silence on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) financial fiasco.<\/p>\n
Without mentioning Najib\u2019s name, Shafie listed the many controversies linked to the prime minister like the controversial Goods and Services Tax, the plunging share prices of Felda Global Ventures Bhd and the purchase of a company by the Federal Land Development Authority seen close to the Najib and the 1MDB saga.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many issues. This and that. These are all bread and butter issues that must be addressed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters later, Shafie insisted that his criticism should be taken positively as it is intended to strengthen Umno and confidence towards the government.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will remain loyal, who says I won\u2019t be loyal, but what is the harm in advising. It is only meant to strengthen the party and confidence towards the government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Shafie dismissed suggestions that he would launch a revolt against Najib, and gave his assurance that he would remain loyal to the party agenda.<\/p>\n
The former minister also said the issues plaguing the administration must be resolved if Umno wants to survive in the 14th general election, which he noted could be the party\u2019s toughest challenge.<\/p>\n
He then reminded the party leaders of their duty to serve the people, which he said is the only way for Umno to remain relevant. – themalaymailonline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Umno will face destruction if its members fear to speak the truth and choose only to be \u201cyes men\u201d to ensure their own political survival, vice-president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal said today in an apparent swipe at party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Speaking at an Umno divisional meeting here, days after his own criticism […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"better_featured_image":{"id":36271,"alt_text":"","caption":"","description":"","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":620,"height":413,"file":"2015\/08\/Mohd_Shafie_Apdal_0808_620_413_100.jpg","filesize":157254,"sizes":{},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"post":36270,"source_url":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Mohd_Shafie_Apdal_0808_620_413_100.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36270"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}