Today, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Rahman Dahlan called out ex-EC chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, who is now Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) vice-president, over his allegation, telling Abdul Rashid to ask his own party chairman first.
“This is because much of Umno’s three million-plus members joined the party during Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s time, and even before that,” Rahman said, referring to Umno’s fourth, and longest-serving, president.
“The membership system is the same now as it was during Mahathir’s presidency. And much of Umno members were already members during Mahathir’s time.
“So Abdul Rashid should also ask Mahathir (about the claim),” Rahman told FMT.
Speaking at a PPBM-DAP seminar in Alor Star on Saturday, Abdul Rashid disputed Umno having three million members, saying the party’s divisional leaders had, in the past, taken the names of voters directly from the electoral rolls to set up branches nationwide.
He added that many of the people whose names were picked from the electoral rolls did not realise that they had become Umno members.
Abdul Rahman, who is an Umno supreme council member, dismissed this allegation, saying it was Abdul Rashid’s “job as an opposition leader” to discredit Umno.
“The fact remains that Umno is the strongest of any of the political parties in the country and has been consistently winning elections.
“Not only does Umno have three million members, we also have millions more supporters out there. That’s how we win elections.”
Another Umno supreme council member, Aziz Kaprawi, said the fact that Umno had won all 13 general elections proved that it had support not only from the three million registered members, but also from other grassroots voters nationwide.
He also denied Abdul Rashid’s claim, saying that Umno’s recruitment process took place on the ground, with the members signing up themselves, instead of having others doing it for them.
“We have the data, the information, the statistics. How can Abdul Rashid know more about the party or its recruitment process, than the party’s management itself.
“I am an Umno division leader, and I know his claim is not true. If we had fabricated our numbers by simply taking names from the electoral roll, we wouldn’t have been able to survive this long.
“Or to be able to win the Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar by-elections, with higher majority,” said Aziz, who is the Seri Gading Umno division chief.