UMNO members should get out of comfort zone if they want victory in GE14 - Zahid

All UMNO leaders from the divisional to the grassroots level were today reminded to get out of their comfort zone and not be carried away by their position to the extent of forgetting their obligations to the party.

UMNO vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Zahid Hamidi said leaders who had been chosen by the grassroots should realise that their big responsibility after the UMNO elections last year was to ensure that Barisan Nasional (BN) remained in power after the 14th General Election.

"We need to reflect on the mistakes we have made. Allah wants to test us as we are in a too-comfortable zone. We have forgotten the promises we made before we became division leaders, elected representatives or ministers. We don't care for the people who had helped us before...let's return to the right path."

The deputy prime minister said this when opening the Hulu Terengganu UMNO division delegates' meeting at the Akademi Binaan Malaysia hall, here.

Also present were Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman, who is also the Terengganu UMNO Liaison Committee chairman, and Communications and Multimedia Deputy Minister Datuk Jailani Johari, who is also Hulu Terengganu UMNO chief.

Ahmad Zahid said the failure of a party or organisation was because the entrusted individuals failed to carry out their responsibilities.

He said UMNO was facing a big challenge today although not as critical as the party's leadership crisis in 1998 involving a certain individual who felt he was so great without realising that it was largely due to grassroots support.

"We are facing challenges, but challenges come and go. Think of ways to tackle the problems, especially the negative perceptions from the court of public opinion," he said.

Ahmad Zahid said currently, not only UMNO was facing relentness attacks by the opposition but the party president was also not spared their malicious allegations.

"Don't let our ship captain (president) be alone, the test will come and God willing, it will go. When our leader is troubled, he needs the support of the grassroots to win in GE14," he said.

According to him, UMNO's internal crisis did not happen only now but also during the eras of its past leaders as there were "thorns in the flesh", but they weathered the problems and the grassroots support remained strong.