'Bona Fide Friends of Umno' an alternative platform for law practitioners to voice out

Its coordinator Datuk Razali Ibrahim said the group, established about two weeks ago under the Umno Constitution and Legal Bureau, however, was not to take on the Malaysian Bar Council but rather to balance the stance made by them.

Razali, who is also Umno Supreme Council member, pointed out the fact that only about 3,000 of 15,000 Bar Council's members turned up almost every time during the council's election, which reflects on how much support the council received.

"I feel to gain respect from others, we must show that we have the best practices first but unfortunately today, they sound like they have the support of a majority of the members. They sound like they are perfect but always look down at the system in this country.

"This results in people getting confused. So, what I'm trying to do here is to correct the wrong perception," he told reporters after attending the group's gathering here last night.

The Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department said the group, which is open to all law practitioners including law students, was targetted to have 5,000 members in the nearest time.