Prepare for the next general election, Muhyiddin said

Each wing in UMNO have been urged to prepare from now for the next general election (GE14) as the tenure of four years mandate is not too long.

UMNO deputy president, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said, GE14 will be much more challenging for UMNO which will be leading the Barisan Nasional (BN), when compared to the recent general election.

“We have to remember that the period leading to GE14 is not too far from now and we have to be prepared since yesterday,” he said in his opening speech at the UMNO’s Youth, Wanita and Puteri assemblies at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), Tuesday night.

According to Muhyiddin, Wanita UMNO must continue their roles as the torch bearer of party’s struggle by “becoming the frontline for the voters”.

He also wants Youth and Puteri UMNO to remain as the legacy of party that will determine the people’s confidence in it and as a party which the people will always look up to.

Muhyiddin also wanted the three wings to understand the idealism and purpose of UMNO.

“We will fight together with UMNO and not just for UMNO but for the Malays and the Bumiputera overall. When we have been elected as the leader in UMNO, it doesn’t mean that we are only to serve the UMNO members but we are also going to serve the Malays and Bumiputera,” he said.

Muhyiddin wanted the Youth, Wanita and Puteri UMNO members to be more “vocal, courageous and confident” so that the existence of UMNO is felt by the people.

He also reminded UMNO members to not too overwhelmed with the success of the recent GE13 because the success of UMNO and BN were "conditional success”.

Although UMNO managed to increase the number of seats in Parliament, it seems the support from young and urban voters have been declined.

“UMNO should understand the message delivered by the voters,” he said adding that UMNO should be sincere in analysing why the young are not supportive of them.

During the recent GE13, UMNO managed to increase its Parliament seats from 79 to 88 and subsequently become the political party with most seats in Dewan Rakyat.

BN also managed to wrestle back Kedah and retain most of the states. They however failed to win back Penang, Selangor and Kelantan and also lost many seats in their stronghold, Johor and Malacca.