Umno elections showdown: Three presidential candidates lay out why the party lost out big in GE14

PETALING JAYA: As the Umno elections loom today, the three top Umno presidential candidates each relayed different views on the catastrophic fall of Umno and Barisan Nasional during the 14th General Election.
Speaking during a televised live debate on Astro Awani, last night, Gua Musang MP Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah opined that the arrogance among most of Umno's leaders was the main reason which leads to the people voting the party out.
"Not everyone but many leaders were arrogant with some taking an elitist approach which subsequently meant that they felt arrogant and refused to engage with the people.
"I honestly do not get that attitude and approach. The people obviously were incensed because these leaders were willing to meet the people during the election campaign period only to go missing soon after.
"What is this (actually)? The people rejected us because of this anger because some of us separated ourselves from the people. It is as simple as that," he said.
Meanwhile, outgoing Umno youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin weighed in his opinion stating that the loss was not the party's fault but rather the huge 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal which has dented the party's image.
"I would like to apologise to all Malaysians (for this) because perhaps as a leader I had failed (to address this issue).
"As a party, Umno should not be faulted. It is Umno leaders who were wrong because we hid the truth and did not relay the complaints by the people.
"If I am elected as the new Umno president, I want all party members to voice out and criticise. I want to be criticised.
"We must also ensure that the president will no longer enjoy immunity and he must listen to the people's voice," he said adding that he still regrets failing to voice out against the previous government and former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak on the 1MDB scandal.
However, former deputy Prime Minister and outgoing Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi chose to blame BN component parties instead of for failing to win enough seats for the coalition, thus denying Umno a chance at retaining the federal government.
Speaking via live feed from Bagan Datuk, Ahmad Zahid backed his reasoning as Umno managed to retain many seats and had garnered 45% of the popular votes.
"The reality is that Umno's popular vote is at 45% but the failure still happened because our component parties only won three parliament seats.
"In the end, we need to practice collective responsibility for the defeat and initiate changes together instead of pointing fingers," he said.
Ahmad Zahid also addressed the need for Umno to work out its sabotage issues as grassroots level leaders continued to be disappointed when they were not selected as candidates for the election.
"That is something we have to take into account," he added.
Today, around 165,000 Umno delegates will cast their votes across 191 divisions to elect its new president, deputy president, three vice-presidents, supreme council members as well as its new permanent chairman and his deputy.
Other candidates contesting for the Umno presidency include Bandar Tun Razak Umno committee member Mohamed Iqbal Maricair and Iskandar Puteri Umno member Mohd Yusof Musa @ Jamaluddin.
The party had chosen its new wing leaders following elections, last week. Polling saw Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki voted in as the new Umno Youth chief, Datuk Dr Noraini Ahmad as the new Wanita chief is and Datuk Zahida Zarik Khan as the new Puteri chief.