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  • 7 weeks ago

Khairy Jamaluddin has praised Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for acknowledging “mistakes on both sides,” describing it as a rare and sincere gesture that opens the door to a fresh start for the party.

Speaking to reporters after Umno’s 80th anniversary celebration on Saturday (May 2), the former Umno Youth chief—who recently rejoined the party after his expulsion—said Zahid’s comments served as a reminder on loyalty, stressing that allegiance should be to the party, not individuals.

Khairy added that while he currently holds no official position in the party, he has been informally consulted on certain matters.

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00:09I think it reflects his sincerity in reopening the doors of UMNO for me, and it's extremely rare that you
00:23will see a leader of the party acknowledge that there were shortcomings on both sides.
00:30And I'm extremely thankful for his magnanimity and for his sincerity, and I believe that it was an extremely kind
00:40way of saying that I suppose the slate is clean and that we are working together to strengthen the party.
01:21He said it's not important to be loyal to anyone in the party, but just to be loyal to the
01:26party.
01:27And I think that was a fatherly way of reminding me about my next period at UMNO.
01:35But I'm very thankful to him, especially at the part of the speech where he said that there were bad
01:44shortcomings on both sides.
01:45Certainly my five. And I hope that we can move on and work together. I'm just an honorary member now.
01:53So I would like to see UMNO strengthen and that we don't have to wait for another 20 years, as
02:00the president said, and that we perform well in the next election.
02:05Do you agree with Joe Ghani that the party has never truly recovered? The image is still not restored?
02:12To some extent, yes. I think that we still have an uphill task in trying to recover public support.
02:23But I think that's why when the president said we both have our shortcomings or mistakes in the past, that
02:33was just an example to the bigger title of our strategy, which is to acknowledge previous mistakes.
02:40He used himself and myself as an example, but I think underneath that, he also perhaps indirectly meant that it's
02:51not just individuals.
02:53Collectively as a party, we should acknowledge that we've made mistakes in the past, but at the same time, we've
03:00done more good, extremely good stuff for the country compared to the mistakes that we've made.
03:08So let's move on. So what should be the focus?
03:10I don't think let's just move on. I think we still have a long way in reclaiming the trust of
03:17the voters. So we can't just say, oh, we've made mistakes. Now vote for us again.
03:22I think acknowledging the mistakes is just the first step. And I think after that sets the stage for us
03:32to perhaps reintroduce ourselves to swing voters or the middle ground who perhaps have lost trust with us.
03:44Then you've softened the ground a bit. And then it's to what the president said just now. It's not enough
03:50for us just to reminisce about the past, but also come up with a new set of ideas, a new
03:58set of suggestions of what we would give to the voters if we are given the opportunity to govern again.
04:05Is there going to be enough time before GE 16?
04:08Well, I mean, there's still more than one and a half years. And I think we have momentum with us.
04:14You see the numbers of young people who have signed up to join the party since the online registration was
04:21launched.
04:23We are getting some traction. But again, I think between the hope that's being offered by some of our leaders,
04:32I think Dr. Joe's reminder is also extremely timely that it's not fully come back yet.
04:38And I think what we do in the next one and a half years or before the general elections, it's
04:43extremely important to focus on, one, acknowledging the mistakes, and secondly, to start thinking about what it is that we
04:51can offer the public and the voters in the run-up to the general election.
05:01I think he said everything we needed to say. Do you know what exactly is your role?
05:07I don't know what we're going to talk about.
05:12No official role, but he's asked me to look at one or two things.
05:17Can you tell him a little bit?
05:19I think it's a bit too early to share because I've not started yet, but certainly no official position.
05:26And I asked also, no official position, but he has asked me to look at something specific.
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