Discontent within Umno towards their allies Bersatu continues to grow, with Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan prodding his boss Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to do something.
The Umno president must provide clear direction for party members bristling over the way the party was treated by Perikatan Nasional after winning the Sabah elections, said his deputy today
Mohamad said Zahid must indicate where the party stands now in its relationship with its political allies.
“Developments in Sabah show Umno was sidelined. From a party that governed Sabah for 27 years, Umno has become a small party in Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).
“It is time for the president to give guidance and a clear explanation on where the party is going with our current political pacts.
“A clear consensus is needed to ease the dissatisfaction among Umno members,” said the former Negri Sembilan menteri besar.
At the Sabah elections last Saturday, Umno won 14 of the 32 seats it contested, making it the GRS party with the most seats.
However, the chief minister’s post was given to Bersatu, which won 11 seats.
Collectively, GRS has 38 seats – enough to form the Sabah government. Three independent reps have also backed coalition.
Sabah Bersatu chairman Hajiji Noor was sworn in as chief minister on Tuesday while the Umno candidate for the post, Bung Moktar Radin was relegated to being his deputy.
This has angered many Umno members, who view Bersatu as a usurper.
Mohamad said Umno must move on from the “Sheraton Move” episode that toppled the Pakatan Harapan government and replaced it with Perikatan Nasional and create a better platform under Barisan Nasional.
He said now’s the time to say if Umno wants to remain faithful to the Muafakat Nasional agenda.
“Umno has made a major sacrifice in giving away important seats and it has cost the party.
“Moving forward, Umno must stop being nostalgic about the Sheraton Move. Now Umno must think about how it will take the country back.
“If we need to be with PAS in Muafakat Nasional with BN for the general election, so be it. And this has to be decided now so that we can get work on the relationship,” said Mohamad.
The results of Saturday’s election, he said, showed that Umno’s strategy and political cooperation forged did not benefit the party.
“What happened in Sabah shows Umno needs to rethink its approach. If Sabah is taken as a benchmark, Umno’s viability, influence and visibility will be affected in the near future and it will weaken Umno in the long run,” he said.
Mohamad, also known as Tok Mat, said Umno’s move to give its strongest seats to “certain parties” had affected its strength significantly.
“Even more saddening, Umno had to face independent candidates sponsored by parties with vested interests to weaken Umno. The promises on Cabinet portfolios, too, were almost broken.”
“We will be judged by what we can offer Malaysia, not how much we sacrificed for certain parties or Perikatan Nasional’s viability. Let us bring Umno back to the right path,” he said.
Mohamad’s remarks today were the most patent so far on how some sections of Umno viewed Bersatu and the Perikatan Nasional coalition.
While the two supposed partners have maintained a testy and occasionally hostile alliance, neither side has openly described the other as a “political rival”.