Umno veteran Rais Yatim describes the cause fought by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad as more of a personal cause now, rather than for the Malays.

"In the past, he had the confidence and patience to rebuild Umno and the Malays, but now, the political cause he fought for is not for the Malays any more, not even for BN.

"He has made it so personal, which of course linked to the sacking of (his son) Mukhriz in Kedah," Rais told reporters in Jelebu today after attending the 'Santapan Minda' programme organised by Yayasan Budi and the BN Information Bureau of the Jelebu Parliamentary constituency.

Rais was commenting on the People's Congress held on Sunday in Shah Alam, Selangor, which was also attended by Mahathir and former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Commenting further, Rais, who is also the social and cultural affairs adviser to the government, said he was not interested in joining or support the opposition and other parties in their attempt to oust Najib Abdul Razak as prime minister.

'Win hearts and minds'

In another development, Rais urged Umno and BN to continue efforts to win the hearts and minds of the younger generation by making optimal use of the social media in their delivery system.

"The challenge that awaits us in the 14th general election is not small because the younger generation in the 21-40 age group number more than 60 percent. So the efforts (to win them) must be intensified.

"I see these efforts as very challenging, but as quickly as possible, we have to improve our delivery system and our effectiveness," he said, adding that the BN component parties must also work hard to win the voters.

Rais stressed that if the people saw the government as being sincere, productive, helpful in its efforts to improve their livelihood, there was no reason they would reject it.

- Bernama