Prime Minister Najib Razak today called on Umno members to ignore ‘jemuan-jemuan’ (bad characters) and apple-polishers as these people caused disunity in the ranks.

Najib, who is also Umno president, said the party was capable of remaining in power and win elections if these "unwanted people" were not in the party.

"The ‘jemuan’ are worse than apple-polishers and "batu ronson" (instigators), because they try to pit us against each other, so much so our shortcomings are amplified, party harmony is affected.  

"Leave them out, if the "jemuan" are not there, the BN and Umno will win," he said when opening the 2015 Kedah Umno Convention here today.

Also present was Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir, who is also Kedah Umno chief. The two-day convention is being attended by delegates from the 15 Umno divisions in the state.

Najib said getting rid of these negative elements was important to secure Umno's future.

"This is more important the Kulim International Airport or a proposal to convert a loan (to the Kedah government) to a grant, although they are no less important.

“If we are united and work as a team, God willing, Umno will continue to win, those are the ingredients (unity and teamwork)," he said.

Umno members, Najib said, should ensure the party's interest came first and not personal interests and that internal problems (in the party) must be reduced so as to ensure Umno received continued support from the people.

"Among the pull factors (people's support for Umno) is the team spirit inherent in the party. So avoid internal problems and let us not bicker among ourselves. Let there be no factions in a division as this will make us hard-pressed to make our choices," he added.

Thus, he urged Umno members not to repeat past mistakes in the future.

Shackled by disunity

Umno, he said, would not succeed if it continued to be shackled with problems of disunity, squabbles and disputes.

As such, he said it was very important for Umno members and leaders to always be focused in the effort to win the hearts of the people and ensure it remained strong.

The prime minister said Umno members must feel the pulse of the people because the destiny of the party in the general election was in the hands of the people.

Nevertheless, he said, he could feel that Kedah Umno already had a new spirit after successfully seizing back the state government in the general election in 2013, after losing in 2008.

He asked that efforts to win the hearts of voters in Kedah be boosted without any complacency, because the BN won seats in the state in 2013 with small majorities (of about 200 votes).

According to Najib, in the 2013 general election, Kedah Umno won in 367 of the 672 polling districts (PDM) compared to only 283 PDM in 2008.

As division heads and leaders at other levels, he said they should know in which PDM they lost and set a target to increase the number of PDM to be won in the coming general election.

"We must be focused and have a target, don't lose focus or develop a weak memory politically," said the Umno president.

- Bernama