UMNO veterans should be given voting rights in picking leadership

UMNO must consider including the veteran group in the party constitution to enable the group to have at least 20 per cent voting rights in the leadership selection.

UMNO Supreme Council Member, Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said, for example, if a division had a voting right of 15 votes, at least 20 per cent or three votes, should come from the veteran group.

"I am of the view that UMNO must look at the role of the veterans to be used as a component in deciding the leadership selection.

"With votes coming from veterans, at least the young will not look down on their contributions to race, religion and country," he said.

He said this when replying to a question from moderator Amurad Md Yassin on how the present leadership including the young showed their acceptance of the struggles of veterans at the forum 'UMNO Veterans Crossing The Time', here Friday night.

Abdul Aziz was one of the panel members of the forum other than former University Malaya history lecturer, Prof Datuk Dr Abdul Malik Munip.

Commenting further, Abdul Aziz, who is also Deputy Transport Minister, said the young in the party today enjoyed the proceeds of the struggles of the veterans but some appeared not committed in defending them.

"Today, the problem of the young is that that their struggle is not based on sincerity, but more on the greed to grab the results of contributions by the veterans," said Abdul Aziz, who is Sri Gading Member of Parliament. -- Bernama