By IAN MCINTYRE

ianm@thestar.com.my

KOTA BARU: Many letters have been sent to Umno division and branch chiefs nationwide asking them to hold emergency general meetings to identify weaknesses in the party which caused the setbacks in the recent general election.

The letters were sent from Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's office.

A spokesman for the Kelantan prince said the letters were either mailed or faxed to the leaders and had proposed for them to hold EGMs on May 11, the anniversary of Umno’s formation in 1946.

The letter proposes that division and branch heads hold their own EGMs at their level to identify the weaknesses and make recommendations following the shocking defeats Barisan Nasional suffered in several states in the 12th general election.

The spokesman said that Tengku Razaleigh, who is just a division head, had no clout to call for an EGM.

“There is no hidden agenda except to address Umno’s weaknesses.

“Not once did the letter mention or call for anyone to step down and it was done in the best interest of all Umno members,” the spokesman said.

It is learnt that Tengku Razaleigh, 71, who is now the country’s longest serving MP, would call for the Gua Musang division EGM on Thursday.

A copy of the letter was made available to The Star.

In a related development, Pasir Puteh and Kerteh Umno division heads Datuk Kamaruddin Md Nor and Datuk Seri Annuar Musa respectively said that they had not seen or received the letter.

“I am in the dark and it remains to be seen what the contents of the letter are.

“We are still unaware of it,” said Kamaruddin.

Nationwide call: A copy of the letter that was sent out by Tengku Razaleigh’s office.