He said the Umno president’s post had been associated with immunity from mistakes and was shielded from criticism in the past.
“Umno has never been truly open before. Members at the grassroots level cannot reach or talk to the top leadership.
“The president’s post is akin to the dewa, where their status cannot be questioned or criticised.
“I want to change that if I am elected president. As president, I will accept criticism.
“I don’t want to be a ‘dewa politik’ (political deity) in Umno,” he told Penang Umno members at the Safira Club in Perai here on Thursday night.
“You can choose an elder statesman as your president, or you can pick a person from the new generation.
“Age is just a number. I am 42, but our prime minister is 93, and the Selangor menteri besar is 38. The soon-to-be youth and sports minister is rumoured to be a 26-year-old.
“So why not me, a 42-year-old to be president?”
Khairy said if his fellow presidential hopefuls, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, did not win the presidency, they would be retained as part of the party’s council of advisers to honour their long-term experience in the party.
On calls for the party to apologise to the people for its mistakes, Khairy said he would gladly do so on behalf of the past leadership but would never do so on behalf of the party.
“The party is definitely not at fault for mistakes, but the fault may lie in individuals,” he said without elaborating.
Khairy also said Umno would remain a Malay-only party and would work to remove its label as a club for the Malay elite, to attract a larger swathe of Malay supporters who had joined Pakatan Harapan (PH).
He also pledged to have a minimum of 30% of women leaders in the top Supreme Council, and party elections would be held every three years.
“Many people still love Umno. Please remember that. The voters had voted against us because they wanted Umno to change.
“We are still in Umno not for ministerial posts or state exco posts. We are doing this sincerely and not for money,” he said.
Shadow ministers in Parliament for check and balance
Khairy said the first order of the day was to solidify the unity of 50-odd Umno MPs in Parliament and to come up with shadow ministers to be a viable opposition to PH.
“We will ensure PH’s promises are met. Have they forgiven PTPTN (National Higher Education Fund Corporation) loan defaulters, reduced fuel prices or removed tolls? No.
“So, why must we negotiate with them to ensure our survival when they should be facing a roaring lion?”
In a question-and-answer session, Khairy was told by an Umno member to not bow and kiss the hands of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, like Zahid when he met the prime minister recently.
“He (Mahathir) is an old man, our Malay adat (custom) should not be neglected. We must respect him. But we will not compromise on other matters.
“You must understand, PPBM has 12 or 13 seats while Umno has 52. The Malay political power is clearly still with us.”
Another member asked about the fate of Utusan Malaysia, an Umno-owned Malay daily.
Khairy said it costs RM7 million a month to finance the ailing newspaper and it was a big liability.
“We will continue to support Utusan, but we will find new ways to publish it, maybe online or through an electronic medium to offset high printing costs.”