KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional (BN) will be rebranded as a new coalition made up of political parties and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Umno president and BN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said it would be done once discussions with component parties had been finalised.
He said the rebranding would see Umno, MCA, MIC, People’s Progressive Party (myPPP), and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) remain in the coalition with the entry of other parties that had that shared similar aspirations and idealism.
"It also involves the participation of parties that are Umno-friendly and have been supportive to us, including the non-governmental organisations," he said.
Zahid said this in his presidential speech delivered at the Umno General Assembly 2018 at Putra World Trade Centre tonight.
He said the rebranding would include seven thrusts comprising 21 measures that Umno and BN would adopt to begin the revival of the coalition after its 14th General Election (GE14) defeat last May.
The new combination, Zahid said, would allow direct membership registrations. He explained that this will allow people to become BN members without going through any specific component party.
Since the government had agreed to lower the minimum voting age from 21 to 18, he said, Umno would propose to lower the minimum age of being a member from 18 to 16.
On top of that, Zahid said, Umno would also make the recruitment into Umno easier and efforts to update the membership list would be done as soon as possible.
"We should not be proud to have many members, but have them not being loyal.
"We want quality and loyal party members. I want to propose to empower all state Umno liaison committees to carry this out," he added.