Politics of confidence to draw young people's support - Khairy

The current political landscape requires a party that is able to offer a political environment that can give confidence and hope to the young people, especially Generation Y and Z.

Along with the changing times, UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar said the political environment that could offer confidence and hope was seen to only be able to gain support from that group.

"Generation Y and Z can only be convinced to choose us through the confidence and hope being offered to them compared to politics (play with the sentiment) of history.

"Previously, we (UMNO) received support through political history but now it is no longer effective," he said at the National Student Leadership Conference (Pemanas) 2015 themed 'Students Are Architects Of The Future' at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here Saturday.

When asked by a student representative from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia over which party should the younger generations lend their support after UMNO was also seen to be facing internal issues, Khairy said they should put their trust in UMNO and Barisan Nasional (BN) as the party always gave priority to the people's interests rather than the Opposition which only sought publicity.

The Youth and Sports Minister said although there were differences of opinion in UMNO today, it was proven that the party was actually 'celebrating' democracy values when grassroots could express their views freely.

"UMNO is a political party...if only one of us can voice out his or her opinion, we will become a dictatorship. Umno is a democratic party...we hear them and we will discuss it at the assembly (UMNO General Assembly)," he said.

Meanwhile, commenting on the cost of living, including an increase in the Express Rail Link Sdn Bhd (ERL) fare for a one-way journey from KL Sentral to the KL International Airport (KLIA) and several statements made by the party leaders which could tarnish the image of UMNO, Khairy said the matter would also be discussed in his keynote speech.

"About the speeches of leaders which was then being manipulated, I see what they are exactly trying to convey, but it had been taken out of context by certain quarters to tarnish our image," said the Rembau MP.

Khairy also called on student leaders to beef up their mental strength and internalise their roles so that they could disseminate the right information and dismiss propaganda against the government.

"If we become student leaders who do not want to say anything, then there is no point of being a student leader and be associated with UMNO but the moment we join UMNO, we are a big family.

"Then surely we should be defending our party and be able to answer all the issues raised by the younger people such as the cost of living, 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad) and other issues," he said.