He gave this gem of a quote after claiming that there is increasing endorsement by state Umno liaison committees for the "no contest" rule and Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad's re-nomination for the UMNO presidency and Abdullah's nomination for the deputy president's post in the coming party elections in May.
There can be no doubt that if a secret ballot had been allowed at the UMNO Supreme Council meeting on January 3, 2000 to decide on the proposal of "no contest" for the two top UMNO posts, the majority would have rejected it.
As a result, there is the spectacle of UMNO national leaders and Supreme Council members publicly declaring support for the "no contest" decision but privately distancing themselves from it on the ground that they had no choice but to support it at the Supreme Council.
Similarly, if there is a secret ballot among UMNO divisions, the majority would reject the "no contest" proposal as not only undemocratic, but for exposing UMNO to ridicule for being distrustful of UMNO grassroots democracy.
Is the UMNO leadership prepared to trust the democratic spirit of the UMNO membership by holding a referendum among UMNO members as to whether the "No Contest" decision should be scrapped? If the UMNO leadership is not prepared to trust the UMNO membership, who then will they trust?
Malaysians, and not just UMNO leaders and members, should ponder as to how and why UMNO has become so undemocratic, Stalinist and authoritarian.
Why is it that the majority of UMNO leaders and members oppose the Supreme Council’s "no contest" decision but are too fearful to speak up?
(13/1/2000)