Don't allow modern colonisation - PM Najib

The UMNO president said if the country were to be colonised in the modern form, all the dignity, integrity and sovereignty of the nation would be lost and would never be regained.

"The history of (Melaka's) Bendahara Tun Perak, who was loyal to four rulers, was famous and Melaka was known as the Venice of the east.

"But when one believed in agitation, provided information to the Portuguese, Melaka was destroyed. This is the lesson from our history.

"Protect the sovereignty because it is our national sovereignty. That is our right.

"Our national leadership will decide and not other people," he said when officiating the Tangga Batu UMNO divisional delegates meeting in Bandar Hilir, here today.

Also present were Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron, who is also Tangga Batu UMNO division head, UMNO executive secretary Datuk Ab Rauf Yusoh, who is also Masjid Tanah UMNO division head, Senator Tan Sri Mohd Ali Rustam, who is also Bukit Katil UMNO division head, and about 500 members of the Tangga Batu UMNO division.

Najib said those who did not learn from history would be destined to repeat the same mistake, thus he pointed out that loyalty was key to the struggles to protect the nation and champion the cause of the people.

"In politics, I have great respect for the late Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba who was very loyal to the UMNO struggle.

"For him, position was not important but what was important was the party's struggle because if the party was safe, everyone would be safe.

"One day, I will hand over (UMNO) to my successor, at that time, if you want to come to me or otherwise, it is immaterial. But I will not betray UMNO. We want to hand over a strong party," he said.

He said that as a responsible leader, all decisions for UMNO and more importantly, for the nation, would be made collectively or by consensus or 'syura'.

Najib said that as a leader chosen via a very democratic system in UMNO, he did not practise 'one man show' or even worse, dictatorship which would not benefit the party or people.

He added that there were people who said he was stupid for having amended the constitution to give an opportunity to 160,000 UMNO members to elect their president, but this had to be done to strengthen the party's struggle for the sake of the nation.

"I want to be a president who is elected by the members, previously there must be 56 nominations for a contest. Getting one (nomination) was difficult, 56 (nominations) would be impossible.

"If I had retained the constitution, I could easily be PM (Prime Minister) for more than 22 years," Najib said.

UMNO was an inheritance to take the people and country to achieve progress and subsequently transform the nation from one with a moderate economy to a high economy.

"This is our journey which I describe as our transformation to become a nation where our image and dignity are respected by the world.

"That is why I say here that no matter what slanderous accusations are hurled at us, for as long as UMNO members and the people are with me, I will continue to struggle because we have a mission," he said.

Najib said UMNO which had been established in 1946 and had steered the nation since Merdeka, still had much to do to develop the country, and for this reason he did not want any betrayal by party members and the people.