Global Courant
KUALA LUMPUR – Umno’s top leaders have called on the once powerful party to embrace its former enemies in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government amid rising tensions within the ruling alliance ahead of upcoming elections in six states.
Umno chief Zahid Hamidi admitted on Wednesday that the party was no longer the dominant force in Malaysian politics, urging members to embrace their role in a government made up of foreign bedfellows.
Vice President Mohamad Hasan also warned that joining the national unity government, despite the party’s worst election result in the 2022 general election, could be Umno’s last chance for redemption.
Umno ruled Malaysia for six decades after independence, but the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition it leads suffered a shock defeat in the 2018 elections. Hopes for a speedy return to the top were crushed last November after it lost just 26 of won the 222 parliamentary seats offered, while his allies in BN added a paltry four.
The heads of Umno’s youth, women’s and young women’s branches opened their respective meetings on Thursday with efforts to address grassroots unrest over political cooperation with Datuk Seri Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, especially with the China-dominated Democratic Party. Action party. (DAP), Umno’s go-to boogeyman for decades.
“We demand that DAP ensure that all their insults, anti-Malaysian, anti-Islam, racist and communist statements will not happen in the unity government,” said youth chief Akmal Saleh, a member of Melaka’s state cabinet, in his policy speech on Thursday .
“When you form the unity government, if you can fly to Sarawak to meet the leaders of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to apologize, you can apologize to Umno,” he added, referring to the olive branch from DAP Secretary General Anthony Loke to the eastern state. ruling pact after the November election resulted in Malaysia’s first hung parliament.
It was a crucial gesture towards PH, the Umno-led BN, GPS and a host of local Sabah parties putting aside their past grievances to rule together and end Mr Anwar’s 24-year quest to take power after he was dismissed from Umno and the deputy premiership in 1998.
Dr. Akmal explained that the grassroots feared that Umno would no longer be able to speak out on Malaysian and Islamic issues because “it has to follow and obey the instructions of the DAP”.
Since April, several Umno leaders, including those in the highest decision-making body, the Supreme Council, have criticized the DAP and PH figures such as Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, Vice President of Mr Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat.
Nurul Amal Fauzi, head of the young women’s wing, admitted in her policy speech on Thursday: “We needed time to process and understand the wisdom of our existence in unity government. Is this the best for us, the struggle of the party and the people?
“Whether we like it or not, willingly or coerced, we must accept the political dynamic.”
Women’s chief Noraini Ahmad acknowledged the difficulty of working with other parties in the ruling alliance as they have “long been at odds”.
“We never imagined that we would cooperate with our political opponents. The reality today is that there are no friends or foes anymore, only allies or adversaries,” she said.
The Supreme Court meets Thursday evening to discuss sentiment and resolutions from the three wings ahead of the main meeting on Friday and Saturday.
