Choosing a leader not only in terms of age but also in experience, wisdom - Najib

He said, UMNO's rejuvenation - which is to provide more space for younger leaders - needs to be done but he stressed that it needs to be carried out in a planned manner.

The Pekan Member of Parliament further explained that he believes that an individual who wants to be a leader must also meet the criteria such as having experience and also have his own wisdom.

“I believe that the rejuvenation of UMNO must be done in a planned manner, only that we cannot be carried away by the understanding that young leaders must be the best.

"I cannot use one criterion, (because it) is not just a matter of age. Age may lead to the young, maybe more dynamic, more energetic, but there are one or two more criteria - experience and also wisdom," he said during an interview in the ‘Exclusive With Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’ program on Astro AWANI tonight.

He said this when asked to comment on the people's insistence on all political parties to field more young and fresh individuals to lead the leadership.

Commenting further, Najib said, UMNO has long been ahead of other parties in providing enough space for the next generation.

“I became the Menteri Besar of Pahang at the age of 23. Others were Datuk Rais (Tan Sri Rais Yatim) at the time, the late Datuk Mokhtar Hashim, (Tan Sri) Shahrir Samad, (Tan Sri) Rahim Tamby Chik, and many other leaders who were featured at the time as second echelon leaders and they were given opportunities to demonstrate their abilities and talents.

"If there is a young leader simply because he is young, there are also those who fail. I don't need to mention names… they do exist, and we can see. Recently, there are also young leaders who have been highlighted, suddenly failed," he added.

Meanwhile, Najib, who has been UMNO president and Barisan Nasional chairman for nine years (‪2009 - 2018‬), acknowledged that there would be difficulties for the successors, if senior leaders retained their position as president for decades.

He said the situation would eventually result in a generation change in the party that should have happened earlier, failing to be realised properly.

"So, when someone says restrictions like that, so the ones at the bottom cannot come up. So, there are constraints that cause the process to be a bit slower than we should do.