06-07-2025
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Johari Ghani: Umno must be dynamic, accept new political reality
SEREMBAN: Umno needs to stop politics based on nostalgia and instead be more dynamic by accepting the fact that no political party in this country is capable of winning an absolute majority in a general election.
Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said party leaders and members cannot continue resting on their laurels.
Instead, he said, they must continue moving forward to win the hearts of the people.
He said voters today were smart enough to make their own assessments and placed great expectations on their leaders' shoulders.
"For example, younger voters now differ in their way of thinking (than those who came before them) and each one of them has high expectations.
"So, we need to change according to the areas we are in... in more developed areas, the voters would be even more dynamic.
"We must remember, as long as we hold on to nostalgia, we will not go anywhere," he said when opening the Seremban Umno division meeting at Dewan KRS in Sikamat.
Present were division chief Mazlan Maarof and his committee members.
Johari said Umno must continue to fight for the people without expecting anything in return.
"Voters want leaders who are expert managers both in the country and outside, not leaders who 'jump' here and there.
"They want leaders they can trust and are capable of playing their part in unifying all races," he said.
Johari also said Umno must learn from its losses in the previous two general elections as well as its present partnership in the unity government.
This, he said, was as each party in the government had its own unique ideology.
"Amanah, DAP, PKR and Umno all differ (in terms of ideology)... but we must all be unified in the government so that there is political stability," he said.
Johari said such stability would lead to economic growth and enough jobs for university graduates.
"Without political stability, you can do anything but no one would invest in the country," he said.
