KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — Umno lost the GE14 even after having spent “so much”, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said as he also blamed the Barisan Nasional coalition’s defeat on rivals Pakatan Harapan’s alleged false promises.
Najib, the former BN chair and former Umno president, noted that the party’s candidates’ attitude over money also stood in the way of a GE14 victory.
“We know that our glory days are over. We lost in the general election even though we spent so much.
“There were those who sulked when they didn’t get allocations. There were those who did get money but said they didn’t. Then there were candidates who received allocations but did not spend it.
“How are we supposed to win when our attitude is like that?” he was quoted saying by The Star.
The report did not state how much Umno or BN spent in GE14, but the legal campaign spending limit for each candidate in parliamentary seats and state seats are RM200,000 and RM100,000 respectively. There were 222 parliamentary seats and 505 state seats contested in GE14.
Najib claimed that PH’s alleged failure to carry out their electoral pledges meant that Malaysians were cheated, citing the promises to bring down fuel prices and introducing Employees Provident Fund savings for housewives with a two per cent contribution from their husbands.
“I can’t believe people actually fell for that. My disappointment is not because our agenda was not good but because our loss was due to false promises.
“It is difficult to accept when we did our best for the people with achievable promises,” he said in the same news report.
In the report published as Umno decides on its next party president today, Najib admitted that he contributed to the party’s GE14 failure and said he had resigned to assume responsibility even when the shortcoming was at all party levels.
He urged Umno to end the practice of money politics, saying that it must return to the party roots which will require sacrifices and humility.
“It is time to change. We have to choose the best leaders for the party now and not because of benefits. We have to change our values, attitude and approach in order to be respected by the people once again,” he was quoted saying by The Star as he suggested that this may be a divine test for Umno to change.
Although Umno remains the biggest party in Parliament following GE14, the BN coalition it belonged to lost federal power and failed to achieve simple majority in Parliament for the first time in history.
The top candidates in a five-man contest for the Umno president post today are acting president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, party veteran Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and youth favourite Khairy Jamaluddin.
