He said the joint decision was made to enable Umno to concentrate on strengthening and rehabilitating the party based on the New Political Model to ensure Umno's survival as the party that would lead the national administration.
"This is provided for in the (party) constitution which we have used on several occasions so that all our attention and efforts can be directed at strengthening the process to provide the needed strength for our party," he told reporters after chairing the Umno Supreme Council meeting, here Tuesday night.
Najib said Umno did not want next year to be turned into a platform for a political struggle that can cause factionalism within Umno although the party was confident this could be curtailed.
"We don't want a situation that is most stressful as was what had occurred in another political party, so we decided to postpone the election based on the party constitution," he said.
Asked whether the postponement had anything to do with the forth-coming 13th General Election, Najib who is also Umno president since winning the post, unopposed for the 2008-2011 period, said it was nothing new.
"To my knowledge, such a decision has made three or four times before and there was no problem or was it something unusual," he said.
The first time an Umno Supreme Council election was postponed came about in 1999, when it was delayed until May 2000 to concentrate on the 1999 General Election.
As for a revamp of the state Umno leadership, Najib said he would make an announcement by year end because he needed time to discuss the matter with certain leaders from the states.
"I have announced before that this (revamp) will only be made known by year end and not today. Me, the deputy president and the secretary-general need to meet and discuss with state leaders on their respective roles," he said.
Najib hinted that the revamp might see some new faces while some old faces might be retained.
Asked on talks that there would be a Cabinet reshuffle, Najib reiterated that they were merely rumour and it was up to the individuals to make their own interpretations.
"They are all rumour, when I say rumour, they can be true, but there are also rumour that can be untrue, (it's) up to one's interpretation," he said.
The Prime Minister said that beginning early next year, all branch leaders and the wings' branch leaders are required to attend party courses that will see more than 50,000 Umno leaders being given training.
"We will continue to make changes based on the New Political Model where I have outlined seven principles, and this we will further improve and we will explain on the 1Malaysia concept and how Umno, which places the people's interest first, (looks after) the interest of the people and (emphasises on) our delivery system," he said.
Najib said the meeting Tuesday night also took note of the current political developments in the country besides receiving reports on the BN successes in the by-elections in Galas and Batu Sapi recently.
"We have also taken stock that the public are of the opinion that the current vibrant and positive developments are a result of initiatives taken by the government and has let to added confidence of the people," he said.
Meanwhile, Najib added that the increase in the price of RON97 petrol which was not subsidized by the government, was due to an increase in the price of crude oil in the global market.
"The price of RON97 is determined by the market and not by the government and if there is a drop in the price globally, it will result in a drop in price of RON97 here," he said.
The price of RON97 petrol was reported to have increased by 15 sen and sold at RM2.30 per litre beginning Dec 1, but the price of RON95 petrol remains unchanged at RM1.85 per litre.
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