Don't run UMNO top posts without money - Mustapha

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PUTRAJAYA: Senior UMNO minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed will only run for the supreme council post in the coming party elections, citing "not enough money to run for top posts."

Although he did not elaborate on "not enough money," to some extent what he said has reflected on the phenomenon of money politics within UMNO.

"Don't run for top posts without money."

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  During the last party election, Mustapa lost in his contest for the party vice presidency.
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• Mustapa, who is also the agriculture and agro-based industry minister, said during an exclusive interview with Sin Chew Daily as he led a delegation to the ASEAN+3 Agriculture and Forestry Ministers Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam recently, that because of his political style which saw him distance himself from political tussles, he often gave the public an impression of a "technocratic ministerial political leader."

He felt that UMNO had come to a stage for an overhaul of its leadership, adding that the party needed to bring in more new blood and lure new generation professionals to its rank for the party's future developments.He took himself as an example. Former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin offered him a chance to become his political secretary so that he could have the opportunity to learn, and with the support of other leaders, he had got promoted in the government.He also cited MCA as another example, saying that both Ong Ka Ting and Ong Tee Keat had all been political secretaries before they could scale the pinnacle of their political careers.As such, he said party leaders must try to groom new blood, but more importantly, offer the opportunites for them to perfect themselves in politics. (Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily)