UMNO need to win hearts of urban people - Mustapa

UMNO, which turned 70 today, must do more to win the hearts of the people in urban areas so that they love the party, say Kelantan UMNO Liaison Committee chairman, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

While the support of the rural people was important to UMNO, Mustapa said he does not want the party to be merely a rural party, but one which also had a place in the hearts of the urbanites.

"Today we are worried that in the Peninsula, the urban areas that we won (in the 13th General Election) were only in the Johor Bahru parliamentary constituency and in Kangar, while in other towns and cities, we lost, it's a serious matter, and we cannot let it continue because the urban areas are the pulse (of the nation)," he told Bernama here, today.

He said UMNO can learn from the great victory for Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 11th Sarawak state election on May 7.

"Many of their leaders won with a large vote majority, such as Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem, (so) we have to find how to make the people like us, we have to work, fight, and voice out their interests," he said.

Mustapa, who is also International Trade and Industry Minister said in the last 70 years, UMNO had been successful in developing the country.

"If there was no UMNO, Malaysia would most certainly be much different from what it is now as UMNO has shaped Malaysia, we share power, economy, and methods to ensure equality," he said.