NAJIB EXPRESSES RESOLVE TO SHOULDER TRUST OF UMNO GRASSROOTS

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 (Bernama) -- Najib Razak, who secured 134 nominations as at 7pm Sunday to win the Umno presidency unopposed, has expressed his resolve to shoulder the trust placed in him by the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) grassroots.

The Umno deputy president and deputy prime minister said he believed the
nominations reflected the desire for and confidence of the grassroots in the
transition plan he had agreed to with Prime Minister and Umno president Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi.

"I resolve to shoulder this trust and responsibility to the best of my
ability to tackle all the challenges faced by Umno and the Barisan Nasional
(BN).

"I am thankful for and touched by the trust which has been translated into
nominations by the 134 divisions which have held their meetings so far,
signalling my victory unopposed as the president of Umno," he said in his
1Malaysia.com.my website.

Najib said he hoped that the ongoing election process would proceed in a
clean and orderly manner.

"Let's work together to carry forward the noble struggle for the sake of
religion, the people and nation," he said.

Najib garnered 22 nominations Sunday to take his tally to 134.

With Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah having secured one nomination, from his own
Gua Musang Umno division, there remain only 56 nominations and no one else can
garner the required 58 nominations to qualify to contest the presidency.

Umno, the party leading the ruling BN coalition, has 191 divisions.