Hishammuddin who is also defence minister said the country’s accomplishments since last year were feats few other countries could have succeeded with 'flying colours'. — AFP pic

PETALING JAYA, Nov 12 — Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein extolled his own party’s leadership today for succeeding in putting Malaysia on the world stage in a glowing light despite the many trials and tribulations faced within the past one year.

Hishammuddin who is also defence minister said the country’s accomplishments since last year were feats few other countries could have succeeded with “flying colours”.

“We have gone through Bersih, Lahad Datu… general elections, MH370 tragedy which we are still grieving from, MH17 incident and various others.

“Despite all these, our country is still safe, peaceful and harmonious. This is the reflection of Umno and BN’s strength, which stems from our intelligent leadership,” he said in his speech at an Umno roundtable discussion here.

Hishammuddin said that if Umno was “that bad” it would not have won a seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) last month.

On October 17, Malaysia returned to the UNSC by winning a non-permanent seat after a 15-year hiatus.

“If Umno and Malaysia were not respected by other countries, it is impossible that the leadership baton of Asean countries would shift to us,” Hishammuddin said.

“If it was not for the intelligence of Umno leaders, it is also impossible for us to have undergone both the MH370 and MH 17 sagas, whereby our party president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak did not adhere to Putin and Obama and had instead, thought out-of-the-box on how to retrieve the remains of those who had perished and negotiated with rebel authority leaders,” he added.

Hishammuddin challenged leaders from the opposing Pakatan Rakyat (PR) bloc to prove they had the strengths to accomplish as much instead of criticising Umno and the Barisan Nasional ruling coalition.

“If the opposition is so great, then why not ask Mahfuz to face international broadcasters such as CNN and Al-Jazeera?” Hishammuddin asked, referring to his counterpart in PAS, Datuk Mahfuz Omar.

“Ask them to gather all the jets in the world, the 61 satellites and the 10 Asean countries,” Hishammuddin challenged.

“We are not saying we are the greatest, but Umno is not that bad either,” he added.

Hishammuddin said this year’s Umno general assembly will be an important platform to decide the party’s future direction.

“We are now being tested in a global landscape with a borderless world, whereby our own people are willing to pawn their faith and their race in competing to gain recognition and position,” he said.