Prime-time appeal

The Umno general assembly will see Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak reaching out to the party faithful as well as outsiders, especially the undecided voters.

WHEN Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak steps up to the Umno stage this week, it is with the confidence that his party and Barisan Nasional will form the government after the general election.

He has travelled a long and arduous journey since taking over as Umno president and Prime Minister in 2009 and he has steered the party away from the abyss. He has become the party's best brand name.

His passing remark that December is not an impossible date for the polls caused a huge buzz and the media has begun building up the publicity for what is definitely the last Umno assembly before the general election.

Najib's sights are set on not only crossing the finishing line but crossing it well ahead of his rivals. He is hungry for a strong mandate so that the economic and political transformation policies and plans he has put in place can bear fruit.

The time for introspection is over and Najib will be using the Umno stage to tell his audience why his party and coalition are worth supporting and voting for.

His presidential address will be forward-looking and inclusive and he will want to elaborate on what his leadership has to offer if he is given a strong mandate.

He will speak of what his party has done for the Malays and Muslims and also what it means for the non-Malays.

The party is poised to reclaim the ground that it lost in 2008 but there is one last big hurdle to cross – and that is internal sabotage. As deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin put it, the party has to curb the sabotage virus.

This will be one of the prime messages which Najib wants to drum home to the Umno rank and file.

For Umno to win well and for Barisan to reach a two-thirds parliamentary majority, the party has to be disciplined, committed and put aside its old culture of sabotaging candidates and pull together to support winnable candidates put up by the party.

There will be many more opportunities for the president to address his party in the months ahead but nothing compares to beating the war drums at the party's annual pow-wow.

It is the best venue to talk about what he has accomplished and the changes he has brought about, to blast the other side and to rally the party for the mother of all battles.

"Right from the start, he told us that it can no longer be about business as usual. We have to go the extra mile, it is about business extraordinary. The PM has left nothing to chance, he does not want to leave out any group or anyone. If he has time to meet them he will. He wants all to come along. No other PM has done that," said Kapar Umno deputy chief Datuk Faizal Abdullah.

This general assembly is not going to be just about Umno and the Malays. His wide-ranging interview with Bernama and Utusan Malaysia indicates he also intends to use this gathering to reach out to those outside the party because he needs the support of non-Malays to continue to push for change and progress.

Pre-assembly interviews by previous Umno presidents used to discuss primarily party and Malay issues. Najib's interview dealt with Umno and the world outside in equal measures.

Strange as it may sound, Najib's target audience is also the Chinese, the group that has been most resistant to his overtures. They say they like and admire him but are still unsure about his party.

He wants them to come along because a strong Prime Minister has to have the support of all races. He has said that if they want him as the Prime Minister and if they want him to deliver the transformation they have seen thus far, then they have to support his coalition, or else someone else will assume the post.

It is not going to be easy to walk the fine line between telling Umno that its agenda of bangsa, agama dan negara (race, religion and country) remains constant while assuring those outside Umno that the party wants all communities to progress along with it. But that is what he intends to do.

The push from now till the big day is to win over the undecided voters.

Najib's advantage is that Malaysians have seen him work, perform and deliver in the last three-and-a-half years. He is seen as a moderate Muslim and he has fulfilled the promises made by his government. Voters know what they are voting for.

Unlike his opponents, who are still debating over their choice for the top post, Najib is the Barisan's one and only choice for prime minister. The other Barisan component parties, which have completed their annual meetings, have declared their unmitigated support for him and no one else.

Najib, for much of his political career, was seen as a conservative politician who believed in moving up step by step. But as a "war-time" Prime Minister, he has had to fast-forward his pace, respond to the demands of the new political landscape and push for bold reforms.

"If we fall, we must rise again. If we are successful, we must maintain the success," he said.

Three years ago, Najib stood on the stage with one aim – to revive Umno and Barisan. He is now ready to take Umno and Barisan into the battle for survival.

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