KUALA LUMPUR: The younger generation of Umno must prove their worth before they can inherit important positions in the party, Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday.
“But you cannot expect to hold important positions just after becoming an Umno member. You have to go through tests. Rejuvenation need not necessarily mean the young taking over from the old,” he said during his winding-up speech at the Umno general assembly yesterday.
He said the Umno youth chief had been sincere when raising the issue of rejuvenating Umno and explaining what he meant by the process.
“What is important is rejuvenating the spirit of Umno. You can be young or old, but if you can rejuvenate the spirit of Umno, then the party will be rejuvenated. You need to rejuvenate with new strategies and mindset.
“We want to make sure that Umno is strong, because if we are weak, we can be easily crushed. That is why we need everyone to work together in the spirit of solidarity.”
Najib also explained the government’s move to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the rationalisation of subsidies.
“If GST is not good, I will not implement it. In fact, GST was raised some 20 years ago and deliberated by several finance ministers.
“But we have to implement it because there are many businesses that are not paying taxes. Those who are employed are the ones paying taxes and they are the ones who are paying for the cost of development.”
Najib said expenditure for development had increased every year and this was also reflected, among others, in the demands by delegates during the general assembly to increase the allocation for education, scholarships and housing.
“I will prove that GST is good for the country. I will not borrow (from financial bodies), because by doing so, we will lose our sovereignty.”
Najib said the government would introduce the Syariah Index to gauge how far the country had gone towards achieving success and prosperity and would use the index to compare Malaysia’s achievements with other Muslim countries.
“The initiative will be tabled in Parliament during its next sitting. A task force (will be formed) comprising Universiti Islam Malaysia and Department of Islamic Development of Malaysia as well as Islamic experts.”
On Malay reserve land, Najib said all menteris besar would be instructed to ensure that such land used for development must be replaced.
He said laws had to be amended to enable loans to be made available to develop Malay reserve land.