Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki delivers his speech at the opening ceremony of the 2021 Umno General Assembly for the Youth wing in Kuala Lumpur March 17, 2022. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa
KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — Umno Youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki pitched “transformation” and “cleansing” in his opening speech of the wing’s 2021 Annual General Assembly today, saying the party must regain a strong mandate to stem the political scheming that has caused instability in the last few years.
In an impassioned speech delivered before dozens of delegations, Asyraf accused some party leaders of greed and betrayal, calling them traitors who served for “projects” and wealth at the expense of Umno’s struggle to help the Malays, a likely reference to those who either collaborated with rivals Parti Bersatu Pribumi Malaysia or defectors.
The Umno youth chief said his wing has long opposed aligning with the splinter group to form “a backdoor government” even when several of the party’s top leaders were keen to govern alongside leaders notorious for being disloyal.
The wing wanted a fresh mandate and had pushed for a snap election instead, Asyraf stressed.
“In the last four years since the fall of the Barisan Nasional government, the Malaysian political landscape has been unstable. Malaysia has made history by having three prime ministers and three governments,” the Umno leader said.
“All this began because of betrayal.”
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