KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin today said Umno will not improve if it continues to be in a state of denial, refusing to accept the fact that the people had rejected the party in the last general election.
The Umno vice president, in a statement, also admitted that feudal values are still dominant in the party, thus hindering progress towards reform or 'islah'.
“To 'islah' is to move and amend certain circumstances from a previously unjust state to a better one. Real 'islah' demands us to admit our mistakes, recognise what is the truth and strive as well as commit ourselves to it.
“I do think that we cannot commit ourselves to this effort if we are still in the state of denial, unable to admit and discredit the injustices and corruption of the past." he said.
Khaled supported former minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani's statement yesterday that Umno need to return to the philosophy and foundation that the party was built upon - a party that upholds the Malay interests and at the same time, do not look down on other races.
Umno politicians, Khaled added, must be educated to understand the post-modern predicament faced by the Malays and Malaysians in general.
He believed the party would be able to rise again and gained the trust of Malaysians, including charting a new narrative on Malay nationalism.
“But such an endeavour is long, tiring and taxing. It will be made more impossible when Umno still lives in its own labyrinth, reminiscing the past and allows a man who is under a legal trial to be significantly involved in the party." he said, referring to former Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“Yes, we should treat him with honour and respect. But we also should move on from what has passed. It is Najib Razak who is on trial, not Umno."
Khaled pointed out that there was no sense of "shame" in the feudal landscape, thus people were not held accountable.
"This narrative must go and be replaced by the real feeling of 'shame' against wrongdoings and injustice,
"This is not just Najib Razak in the limelight, this is more than what he has done, or allegedly did, the perception that surrounded the allegations and how it had cost the party."
"This is (also) about the survival of Umno as a whole, as a Malay, and should be a Malaysian institution.
"This is also about, in my opinion, what Umno must be, post GE14 and PRK Sungai Kandis," he said.
Meanwhile, Khaled also reminded Umno members to accept that the people has spoken and rejected the party.
"The current realities facing Umno demands us, members of the party, in particular, to reflect on the narratives we used to subscribe and defend..."
"We are no longer the government, and we no longer have the privilege to say confidently, that there is some coterie of Malays who are still behind our backs.
"Those who deny the said reality might say that we still hold on to the 46% of the Malay votes.
"Yes, that might be true but we must also look at the demography of these Malays and what are their values.
"We must cater to all Malays, urban or semi-urban, and above all, Malaysians as a whole."
Earlier, Umno secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa was reported as saying that the party should no longer defend Najib but focus on rebuilding the party as it is bigger than any individual.