UMNO elections must be seen to be clean and healthy - Najib

UMNO president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has expressed the hope that this year's upcoming party elections would be seen as a clean and healthy process.

He said UMNO members should play their role in ensuring that the electoral system brought about the transformation desired by the party.

Najib, who is also the prime minister, said the elections this time around banked on the integrity of the candidates to hold any position in UMNO, regardless of whether it was at the national or divisional levels.

He said UMNO had introduced a new constitution which provided greater democracy to the party members.

The new constitution allowed for up to 150,000 members to elect their leaders, he told Malaysian journalists covering his working visit to San Francisco and New York from Sept 22 to Sunday.

"With this, we are trying to see the effectiveness of the new election system," he said, adding that so far the election process was going on smoothly.

"I hope the process is not only smooth but also must be seen to be clean. This means UMNO members have to play a role to enable the election system truly bring about a transformation desired by the party," he said.

On a claim that he has endorsed certain candidates, Najib said: "Whatever I say is going to be interpreted in different ways. So, I think I just say what is important is that at the end of the day, it is for the delegates to choose the best possible line-up for the party to strengthen the party and move the party forward.

"And that's what I hope to happen as a result of the UMNO election this time around," he said.

UMNO is implementing a new polling method next month following amendments to its constitution which will enable 146,500 delegates from 191 divisions to cast their votes. -- BERNAMA