LIPIS: Umno's strength comes from its 3 million members and not from certain individuals, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak here today.
He said thus, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad could stick to his decision of not ever returning to Umno as the move would not cause any problem to the party.
"I am not being arrogant or trying to humiliate him (Dr Mahathir)...The truth is, the party's strength lies in the support of its 3 million members, not just the president alone. That is why I am saying that he can go ahead with it. If he didn't come, it is not a problem.
"Even when Umno's founder Datuk Onn Jaafar left the party (in 1959), the party was not affected and continued to prosper until today," he said in his speech when opening the Lipis Umno division delegates meeting today.
On Friday, Dr Mahathir declared that he will never return to Umno, even if Najib is no longer the prime minister.
In his speech, Najib took a swipe at Dr Mahathir, describing the former Umno leader as a failure because he never paid attention to public transport during his tenure as prime minister.
"Now, we have major projects like the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) which is our pride and managed to complete it at a reasonable cost. Unlike the time when everything had to be bailed out including monorail (train) and LRT (light rail transit).
Meanwhile Najib, who is also Umno president, said changing the government is not the solution to ensure that the country will prosper and be on the right track.'
"Changing (existing government) for a much better one makes sense but switching to a government which is uncertain will only spell trouble or disaster.
This is a stupid (kerja bodoh) move. Sorry that I have to say that," he said, adding that the successes achieved was proof that Malaysia is not a failed state as claimed by the opposition.