New faces from Umno, says Muhyiddin

Tim Leonard

Muhyiddin chatting with UPM students during 
his visit on Sept 30, 2011. BERNAMA

BANGI (Sept 30, 2011): Deputy Prime Minister and Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today said Umno will field new faces for the upcoming general election as it is what voters want.

"People are tired of old names," said Muhyiddin, who is also Barisan Nasional deputy chairman, after a dialogue session with the UPM Academic Association at Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang.
He said a study carried out by the party revealed that voters were "tired" of old faces. “When we ask people, they say ‘that person has been around too long and we are tired and we want someone new'," he said, referring to the feedback from the grassroots level.
Muhyiddin also said the basis of candidate selection has to be who the people want, not who the party wants.
“Even if Umno likes a candidate, but if the people don’t like (the candidate), then it cannot be the basis to keep the candidate,” he said.
Muhyiddin said the upcoming polls will see the party fielding faces that the voters want. “What matters is whether the candidate can win.”
Meanwhile, Bernama reports that the proposal to turn Serdang Hospital into a teaching hospital for UPM will be discussed at the cabinet meeting.
"No doubt the matter is important for UPM, but at the moment it should be studied carefully. If we want to build, it will be costly and if taken over, what will be the implication," said Muhyiddin, who is education minister,
UPM had requested to have its own hospital to help increase productivity, especially in medical research.
Muhyiddin also announced a RM5 million allocation for UPM Veterinary Hospital toconduct research and development (R&D).
"The allocation will be given in the second phase of the Tenth Malaysia Plan (10MP)," he said.
source : The Sun Daily