PETALING JAYA: Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has said the party is not as terrible as many made it out to be, adding that the leadership is working hard to ensure Malaysia continues to receive world recognition.

He said if Umno was weak or in a bad position, Malaysia would not have been recognised the world over and would not have secured the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) seat.

“If Umno was that bad, our country would not have been given a place in the UN.

“If Umno and Malaysia were not respected, it is also impossible that the Asean chairmanship would have been given to Malaysia again,” said Hishammuddin when opening the party’s roundtable supreme council meeting here yesterday.

Last month, Malaysia was chosen to be among 10 non-permanent UNSC member for the 2015-2016 term, after a 15-year absence.

Malaysia received 187 votes from the 192 countries taking part in the voting process.

On the Asean chairmanship, Malaysia is taking over the seat from Myanmar for next year.

Hishammuddin said if it was not for the wisdom of the country’s leaders, Malaysia would have found it difficult to face several crises, including the twin air tragedies of MH17 and MH370.

“If not because of good leadership, we would not have gone through both tragedies wisely and thought out of the box to find the solutions,” he said.

The defence minister also took a swipe at the opposition, saying that they would not have been able to handle major crises as well as the current government leadership. “If the opposition is so great, tell Mahfuz (PAS MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar) to face CNN and Al Jazeera,” he said.

Hishammuddin said Umno is currently undergoing a lot of change and urged all members to ensure the success of the process.

“Transformation and changes within Umno are not a one-person job. What we are doing now is renewing ourselves,” he said.

There are bound to be challenges ahead and this is where the wisdom from Umno and its Barisan Nasional partners is needed, said the defence minister.

“We have been tested so many times and we pulled through. Our country is still safe and peaceful, “thanks to the wisdom of its leaders,” said Hishammuddin.  —The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 13, 2014.