Umno not racist or extremist: Najib

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno is not a racist and extremist party as portrayed by its enemies, as its struggles throughout its seven decades of existence was centred on bringing all races forward, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
He said this was proven by the party's willingness to work with other non-Malay component parties in Barisan Nasional (BN).
"We are not arrogant as we are willing to cooperate and share power with our friends in BN," said Najib, who is also Umno president.
"Our struggle is not for Umno members alone but we are fighting for all Malaysians, regardless of race and religion," he said when addressing more than 100,000 Umno supporters at the party's 71st anniversary celebration at Bukit Jalil National Stadium yesterday.
The two-day event will also feature various fun and carnival-like programmes.
Upon his arrival at the venue, Najib went around the venue accompanied by other top party leaders to greet the crowd.
Also present were Umno vice-presidents Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Umno wing leaders, top party leadership members and dignitaries from BN component parties.
Najib said the strong presence of supporters was an indication that Umno is the strongest political party in Malaysia.
Having captured the full attention of the crowd, he asked: "Are we strong enough? Are we prepared? Can we dissolve Parliament tomorrow?", to which he received a thunderous positive response.
"This is our spirit. This is the extraordinary spirit of Umno. Who says Umno is not strong?"
"Who was it that said we had lost our strength? Just look when we won Sarawak, Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar. God willing, we will win the 14th general election."
Najib also gave four reasons Umno remained in power for so long and become the most successful party in the democratic world. He said it was because Umno:
>> never left its basic struggle that was centred on Islam, Malays and Malaysia as a whole;
>> centred its struggle for the rakyat's well-being for all Malaysians, regardless of their background;
>> was always relevant as its struggle can be applied throughout the years since the Malayan Union era until today; and
>> has a clear vision and mission, unlike the opposition parties which are not aligned.
Najib said it was unfortunate that there were certain former party leaders, including a statesman, who had decided to betray Umno and tried to bring down the current leadership.
He added the statesman was even willing to be with the enemy in order to achieve his personal agenda.
"We will never forget who it was who taught us that DAP is a racist party ... who was it who for many years led us to plant the seed of hatred towards DAP as a chauvinist and racist party which hated Malays and Islam," he said.
Najib stressed that he was not alone in leading the party as he was surrounded by Umno leaders loyal to him.