Infighting cannot come at the cost of Umno, says Johari

Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani urged from both the party leaders and members to set aside their differences and work together, as Umno cannot afford to lose any more ground due to conflict. In an interview recently, he told Malay daily Utusan Malaysia that the Barisan Nasional (BN) lynchpin party’s poor showing at the last general election (GE15) was largely due to internal friction.

“We saw what happened when there was a ‘court cluster’, a ‘Putrajaya cluster’, a ‘PWTC cluster’,” Johari was quoted as saying. He added that a storied institution like Umno should not have suffered such a massive defeat at the ballot box. Johari then went on to say that Umno belongs to its 3.5 million members nationwide and not the party leadership.

“We cannot have Umno leaders fighting among themselves. People are watching us,” he said. He said that any dissatisfaction within Umno must be resolved internally through the party’s supreme council or political bureau. He also said it is imperative that Umno regain voters’ confidence and uphold party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s recent rallying cry, which is to “forgive, forget and rebuild Umno,”.

“Party elections are over. The time has come for us to unite under the current leadership. Each party leader has his own strengths. To succeed, let us put aside our egos and combine our strengths, he added. Last month, Johari became one of three Umno vice-presidents after winning a five-cornered fight during party polls. The other two Umno vice-presidents are Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail and Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin who successfully defended his post.