KUALA LUMPUR (APRIL 15): Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz today blasted members who are pushing party president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to quickly hand over power to his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, saying such a practice is unprecedented.

“Remember, we are not just changing the (Umno) president, we are changing the prime minister. Other parties can change their president tomorrow, they can tell their president to go today; not Umno," she told reporters after five-hour meeting with Wanita leaders yesterday.

“We are talking about the prime minister and this country has never had a prime minister who has been pushed out in our history; always remember that.”

She said the transfer of leadership should not be done under pressure, and should be carried out at a time deemed suitable by both Abdullah and Najib.

She said the Wanita wing fully supports the current president and the next, indicating neutrality in support.

"We cannot just force Najib to take over without giving Pak Lah a chance to stabilise the party and fix the situation first. This is not fair. One of them has to be ready to give and the other ready to receive and I’m sure Najib also wants the prime minister to ensure that what is broken now is fixed, and we (Wanita Umno) want this too.”

She said if the strong comments and guessing games are allowed to go on, the party will never be stable when this should be the priority now.

Rafidah added that party members should stop airing dirty linen in public and should discuss party matters behind closed doors.

“It is the opposition and our opponents who are clapping their hand when we air our dirty linen in public."

She was obviously referring to the open airing of angst by division leaders in several states, with some calling on Abdullah to hand over power to Najib while others support Abdullah in his decision to stay on until the time is right to transfer power.

Rafidah also criticised those who blame others for the poor showing of the Barisan Nasional in the last election.

“No one should say I’m free of blame, there should not be no such nonsense as everyone at all levels -- be it president, deputy, exco, supreme council and grassroots -- should not absolve themselves of blame. Only the proportion of the blame is different, but it is not fair to point fingers.”

Rafidah said Wanita’s post mortem of the general election results showed the losses were due to internal factors like leadership weakness at all levels up to the grassroots, party policies and opinions not accepted by voters, professionals and Malays themselves, and weaknesses in the implementation of programmes at grassroots level.

“For example we found that many voters from the 4th and 5th streams who are the younger voters did not support us and this is something for our Putera and Puteri Umno branches to look into.”
The external factors included the weak BN election machinery, the choice of candidates and the role of the opposition, she added.