Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi predicts that a political coalition claiming to champion Malays will soon undergo a breakup.
In a thinly veiled reference believed to be aimed at Perikatan Nasional, he alluded to internal divisions within a component party of an opposition coalition.
The deputy prime minister said Umno itself had once cooperated with that party in an effort to unify the ummah (Muslim community).
“Although we wanted to foster unity among the ummah, and we have tried in the name of a charter and Muafakat Nasional but that party – no matter who they collaborate with – the party will be kicked out including us.
“I am convinced there is disquiet even now in the coalition that the party has joined. I think the coalition will break up soon.
“Their political allies will also get kicked out, just as they have removed us,” he said in a speech in a surau at Umno’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today, in conjunction with the party’s 77th-anniversary celebration.
Later at a press conference, Zahid further explained that the PN alliance was a merely a temporary political marriage.
“Let us wait for the crack to become a split,” he added.