IS UMNO REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT "CHANGE".

BERSATULAH

I've attended the closed door session with the President for the better part of the last 18 years as a delegate but sadly, as a State Representative for BN from UMNO, by phone I was denied entry yesterday.

This closed door session is usually a heart to heart between the President and the creme of the party. It is ridiculous that Barisan Nasional Representatives from UMNO, who are not divisional office bearers, were not only barred from participation but also have to beg for passes to the assembly proper.

I wasn’t alone in this. Along with me were more than 70 other "Yang Berhormat" from UMNO, who were either not allowed in or just couldn't care less because of the hassle and run around given by the party administration. Individually, we were left to our own resources to obtain entry.

The problem was aired through the proper channels but to no avail.

I personally received the assurance of a Supreme Council member from Johor months ago that he was going to bring the matter up at the Supreme Council meeting. Nothing came out of it. I suppose he didn't bother as he didn't respond after my final query. Perhaps too busy with his deputy ministerial duties.

I have also requested to the state backbencher Chairman to air it out last year, only to be told by him that UMNO Headquarters said we should apply on the same day at the counter.

Lastly, we had the State UMNO office put in a request for a pass which was released at the eleventh hour, only after much ado, for the assembly proper. Even then, we were denied entry to the closed door meeting with the President.

The information chief acknowledged that this is a huge problem but having known the situation much earlier, it should have been addressed way before the Assembly.

I find it ironic that while the President’s speech last year emphasized on “inclusiveness” – a beautiful speech that we on the ground embraced the spirit of – his own administration in the UMNO Headquarters failed to practice it. His generals are doing their very best to derail his vision for the party. Well it clearly seems that way.

They instead blamed one another for not allowing the inclusion of the "wakil-wakil rakyat" at the event organized for the President by the party’s information chief, who appears to have less say than and can be vetoed by the Executive Secretary on his own invitation list. Pathetic!

I was reliably informed that two "Wakil Rakyat" from the Executive Secretary’s own division were denied entry themselves.

So much for the inclusiveness pitched by the President last year!

If the President sincerely wants to eradicate the " Warlord " culture in UMNO, he needn't look beyond the UMNO Headquarters for a start.

This year, the mantra is “Change.”

Well, I suggest that the transformation starts from the Headquarters first. The executives there have failed to execute or implement the desires and wishes of the top hierarchy of the party.

The party should replace, first, the self-righteous Secretary-General; two, the obnoxious Executive Secretary, who is a "big" Napoloeon treating the party like his own empire; and third, the Information Chief, who works hard but with little effect.

They are the people who have gone against the President’s own essence for the party. They are the ones who are disheartening the representatives of the party in the face of the Rakyat.

It makes no sense to deny or make difficult the UMNO Wakil Rakyats entry to any of the UMNO Assembly events as logic dictates that they are the very people who are required to translate the spirit which resides in the President's speeches and have them disseminated to their constituents.

Define The Preach, Translate It Into Practice And The Surplus In Confidence Will Return Naturally.

I Wish The Party Which I Represent The Very Best Of Allah's Blessings, And Pray That The President Will Have The Gumption To Replace Even The Closest Of His Allies If It Means It Will Benefit The Malays, Party and Nation.

In The Name Of God, A Righteous King & Country,

I Remain,

Datuk Tengku Putra Haron Aminurrashid Jumat DPSM, KMN.

State Representative (BN)

Kempas N47, Johor.