Q & A with Nur Jazlan

October 6, 2008⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

1. Why run for Umno No 2?

Umno needs fresh leadership and change. I am part of the voice of change within and outside of Umno.

It is very clear in the last elections that Umno received a body blow from the dismal results and I am concerned that the younger voters will make Umno irrelevant if we don’t change for the better.

And that change needs no signals. I am decisive and proactive, not reactive or to wait for others to decide before I should decide.

The supreme council appears to be like a herd of deer caught in the headlights of a train coming down the tracks. Everything they do now seem to be knee jerk reaction to events.

The only change they are offering is to remove the top leader. What we actually need is drastic action to drive the change or we will be driven out by the change.

I’m not a part of the establishment and have some ideas to effect the change without being bogged down by baggage or inertia.

Also traditionally in Umno, the voices of the president and the deputy are heard and followed; I want to be in the position to make myself heard and drive the change.

2. What do you think are Umno’s immediate action for change?

We have to be accountable for all that we do. This to me means,

I) We need fresh ideas and fresh blood that voice and implement the aspiration of the members, community and Malaysians.

I will support our party President to regain and retain support for Umno and BN as the government of the day.

II) We have to regain our credibility to ensure social justice and the economy benefits all, that no one is denied their rights or mired in poverty in the nation from Kuala Perlis down to Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru and across the South China Sea through Kuching and to the eastern most tip in Semporna.

No one should be poor in any way what so ever.

III) For this to happen, we have to direct and ensure the civil service implement the policies that have been set. The civil service have failed the people, the government and UMNO and we need to take the lead to be more acccountable. The civil service, politicians and UMNO need to be more accountable to the people of Malays and we must make sure that no one gets left behind.

IV) We will make sure that we stay true to the spirit of the constitution that enshrines the the rights of Malays and all other Malaysians.

All of our rights will be respected. We do not need to shelter behind extra judicial laws as we all have arrived as Malaysians.

V) We need to return UMNO to its members. Malaysians want democracy and there is no better place for it to flourish than the leading political party of the nation.

3. How do you see all this being done?

We are not the Malays of the 1950s where we wait for our Tuans to tell us what to do. We are the Tuans today and we have to make the changes.

The party needs thorough changes from bottom to top. We cannot afford to have the same people heading divisions and the top leadership from 20 years ago and still around for more years to come just shuffling their posts.

The post is a platform for change, not to warm the seat and fend off change and challenges.