Malaysia's ruling party concludes elections with call for reform

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's ruling party concluded its annual elections Friday with a resolution to stamp out deep-rooted corruption in a bid to win back support for the government. More than 2,500 delegates had gathered for the four-day assembly of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party, the backbone of Malaysia's ruling National Front coalition government. Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is also UMNO president, had led a call for reforms in the party's constitution, mainly in the way leaders are elected. UMNO is widely perceived to be corrupt, with several leaders having being found guilty of vote-buying. The reforms, which were adopted Thursday, widen the right to vote to more than 100,000 party members from a mere 2,500, making it considerably harder to buy votes. 'The amendments should not just stop at the party constitution. It should start with the change of personality, attitude and behaviour of the leaders,' said Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, a veteran party leader. 'We need a clean slate of leaders, who are free from corruption and behaviours that are scorned by the public,' he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency. UMNO has also been perceived as a racist party, with some of its top leaders often heard making offensive remarks about the country's large minority ethnic groups. Malays make up some 60 per cent of Malaysia's 29-million population, followed by ethnic Chinese and Indians. In his opening speech Thursday, Najib told delegates that the party must look at being a champion of all races, or risk losing the mandate to continue leading the country. 'UMNO can no longer be seen as a party that leans towards only one group,' Najib had said. 'UMNO's service must be done evenly. We will definitely be a party that advocates resilient economic growth, just distribution of wealth, comprehensive social security network and controlled cost of living.' Stemming from a growing perception of corrupt leaders and ethnic discrimination, the government suffered massive losses during last year's general elections in the hands of the three-party opposition alliance. Led by former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition took control of an unprecedented five out of 13 states and denied the Front a two-thirds majority in parliament.