PAU 2020: Tok Mat wants UMNO to be a champion like Liverpool, Najib disagrees

KUALA LUMPUR: UMNO Deputy President Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan's speech in conjunction with the 2020 UMNO General Assembly (PAU 2020) this morning was full of allusions, warnings, and firmness, especially against those who tried to divide the party.

For some delegates, it was quite humorous when he inserted the metaphor that UMNO should have a champion mentality like the EPL football club, Liverpool.

He stressed that UMNO must be dominant, and any party that wants to work with the party, must be prepared to accept the philosophy, the basis of the struggle, as well as its ability to be a captain.

“The important thing is that any party that wants to work with us must believe in UMNO's ability to be the driver, the parent. Not the secondary player simply picked to meet the quota, or the number of seats required.

"We want to be Liverpool that dominates the English League. You'll Never Walk Alone!", he said while officiating the simultaneous conference of Wanita, Pemuda and Puteri movements in conjunction with the 2020 UMNO General Assembly, which began today.

However, for former UMNO president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the speech seemed to run out of context when Mohamad chose Liverpool as an example.

“In my opinion, the UMNO deputy president's speech this morning was concise and accurate - including the part where he told the party to reject traitors and internal enemies as well as external parties not having to teach UMNO about the unification of the ummah.

"There are only a few parts of his speech that I do not agree with. Can Tok Mat choose another club to use as an example?

"Because I am not willing to wait 30 years to see UMNO come back to power and then wander around the mid-table a year after winning,” the former prime minister joked.

It is no secret that Najib, who is also Pekan MP, is one of the fans of Liverpool’s rivals, Manchester United.

Earlier, Mohamad said, UMNO should take the opportunity to re-highlight Barisan Nasional (BN) as the people’s government of choice in the 15th General Election (GE15) after the failure of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government and the incompetence of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.

Although UMNO was part of the party that formed the PN government, Mohamad said, UMNO's role was very isolated and not dominant.

"We are more submissive than getting up to lead, more so with UMNO's clear stance not to join PN from the beginning.

"However, be aware or not, these scenarios actually provide a unique opportunity to highlight the UMNO BN as the people's choice of government, whether among Malays or non-Malays," he said.

In fact, Mohamad explained, BN's performance as a government for more than 60 years was much better and successful, thus benefiting the people.