UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has rejected the criticism hurled by certain quarters, especially those from the opposition bloc, about the collaboration between UMNO and DAP.
According to the Bagan Datuk MP, PAS had made a similar move when it had previously teamed up with DAP, and as such, there is no reason why UMNO could not do the same.
Zahid also stressed that any topics relating to Islam as the religion of the federation, the rights of the Malays, the Malay rulers and the Malay language as the national language had never been brought up by any of the component parties in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.
“In fact, they respect and agree that these are all part of UMNO’s struggles, as stated in the UMNO Constitution,” he was reported as saying to members of the media after attending a briefing session at the UMNO general assembly 2023 yesterday (June 7).
“I don’t see any problems here despite certain quarters saying that we had to sacrifice our dignity (by working with DAP) because PAS used to be with DAP for a long time. How is it that (when we do what PAS did) we are being accused of sacrificing Islam and the Malays?”
Zahid further noted that all UMNO delegates in attendance at the briefing yesterday were also reminded about several aspects, especially when it comes to the country’s current political climate.
“We are in the era of the unity government, and we are part of the unity government. We are not dominant, and we must recognise this fact,” he said.
“Therefore, the six state elections necessitate our hard work. We should win. There is no use feeling strongly about it when the actual result is disappointing,” he said.
Breaking down the party’s abysmal performance in the 15th general election (GE15), Zahid said that 23% of the vote went to UMNO, while the number of parliamentary seats secured was only 11%.
“We lost twice – in the 14th and 15th general elections. We must rise again. We must rectify our weaknesses,” he added.
During the last general election, which took place in November last year, UMNO won 26 federal seats, with Barisan Nasional (BN) winning 30 seats out of the 191 contested. – June 7, 2023
Main pic credit: UMNO
