Muhyiddin: Umno needs to regain ‘wow’ factor

Umno needs to regain the “wow” factor which used to make the public sit up, take notice and want to be part of the party, vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.

Commenting on the Kuala Terengganu by-election loss, Muhyiddin said although Barisan Nasional and Umno had brought development to the country, it appeared to be insufficient.

“The people want radical improvements after what happened in the last elections. We must be able to do something that will attract the public.”

Muhyiddin said change within Umno and Barisan had to happen as quickly as possible or they would lose in the next general election.

“Incoming Umno president Datuk Seri Najib (Tun Razak) will have to perform political surgery,” Muhyiddin told reporters on the sidelines of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s official visit to Bahrain.

Muhyiddin said there was a need to reinvent and not just rebrand.

“This will be a big exercise because Barisan is big. How to change?

“It is not just at the top and has to filter all the way down,’’ he said.

Muhyiddin said although analysis could be made about the local conditions which caused Barisan to be defeated in Kuala Terengganu, there was a need to look at the bigger picture.

“Now what is more important is what the voter thinks of us and not what we think about them. Their expectations have changed.

“The party cannot survive with temporary setbacks. The people will think Umno’s talk is just rhetoric and no action,” he said.

In Johor Baru, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad said Umno should change its election campaigning tactics, focusing on society rather than on the party.

“One of the main challenges faced by the party now is that some of its members prioritised their positions in the party rather than their services to the people,’’ he said yesterday.

- The Star