Thursday, April 17, 2008

UMNO Veterans & MUBARAK

17.4.2008.


As I have commented elsewhere, the contradiction between the statements issued by the UMNO Veterans President and the Acting MUBARAK President is worth noting. For the uninformed, the Veterans are an association of UMNO members above 60, while MUBARAK is a association of former members of Parliament and State Assemblies. In spite of the length of time that has passed since the formation of UMNO , the setting up of Parliament and the State Assemblies, the formation of these two associations is relatively recent. The Veterans had only been established in the last two years, and MUBARAK is two years older. Why this delay happened merits a separate discussion.

What the Veterans President said was that the association is 100% behind AAB. What the acting MUBARAK President (the President passed away in office) said, instead,was that the assocation backs the move to replace AAB. The Patron for both associations is the PM. As far as I know, there has been no discussion at the respective Supreme Councils as to the type of stand to be made by the respective Presidents. So, claiming to represent 100% of the members' wishes is untrue. 

Secondly, many Veterans members are also MUBARAK members, while almost all of MUBARAK members are Veterans members. Again, this renders the two statements by both Presidents as untrue. This is the problem with UMNO at the moment. Everyone is confused.Everyone contradicts each other, says things he does not have authority on, and generally makes a fool of himself. 

These two associations should become very important assets to UMNO, their members having all the experience. The truth is at the moment they are only fringe movements, hardly appreciated by the ruling party leaders. In fact one of the reasons the Veterans association took so long to be formed was because of the fear that its members may get the notion that they could make a comeback. The main reason why they are only fringe bodies is the poor leadership at the helm at present. 

The two associations boast a horde of very experienced,qualified and very active members. The current Veterans President is 85 years old, and can hardly put a coherent sentance together.The acting MUBARAK President was only a one-term exco member in one of the DUN's. The two associations need fresh - even if old - blood to lead them. They need to exert themselves upon the UMNO political scene, if you will, if they are to play their rightful roles in the centre of things, and not at the fringes.


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