Umno Youth rallies behind PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Youth today came out in support of party president and prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
Its chief, Khairy Jamaluddin, said Umno Youth will always support the party president.
"Youth won't show their support blindly. If Umno leaders can voice their opinion but ours is not heard, then the Umno ship will sink in the next election," Khairy said at a press conference after a closed-door meeting with Najib held at PWTC today.
He added that Najib had explained all the issues raised by former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the meeting that lasted over an hour.
"The Youth are very satisfied with Najib's explanation on the current issues, thus we will continue the effort by carrying Najib's explanation, and spread it to the party members and the public," Khairy said.
Mahathir, who was prime minister for 22 years, has repeatedly targeted Najib by accusing him of failing to dispel allegations related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Last week, Mahathir suggested in a blog post that Barisan Nasional could end up losing power in the next general election because of falling confidence in the current administration.
On ways to regain the trust of the people towards BN, Khairy said they need to engage with the public and explain to them the current "crisis" that Umno is facing.
"We have to reach out to the rakyat, not only the prime minister but all the government machinery including the cabinet and party leadership.
Khairy added Umno has successfully faced more serious threats previously, especially during the 1998 Reformasi era.
"We don't see today's crisis being as big as Reformasi, but we managed to face that as we gave our full support to the president back then which was Mahathir," Khairy said.
Khairy also urged the auditor-general and Parliament's Public Accounts Committee to hasten investigations into 1MDB.
Khairy said they have urged Najib to speed up the investigation.
“If they find any discrepancy or elements of breach of trust or fraud, appropriate action must be taken against the perpetrators swiftly,” Khairy said.
Khairy added Najib had agreed to the suggestion as the prime minister also wanted justice to be served.
"Najib wants every matter that involves 1MDB to be investigated and stern action must be taken if there is any swindle," Khairy said.