Zahid admits rejection of party members, Malays impact Umno

JOHOR BAHRU - Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi admits that the rejection of party members and Malays towards Umno impacts the party.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman said this was due to the cooperation between Umno and DAP who were previously hostile to the point that some labelled the relationship as UMDAP – a term which haunted them.

In this regard, he said, BN needed to work hard to convince party members and the people at the grassroots level that the cooperation between Umno and Pakatan Harapan (PH) was for the good of the various races and there was no need to worry.

"The rejection of Umno members and the Malays affected the party a little, but the enlightenment process was done by BN and after that it was well received, this is not impossible for us (BN-PH) to do," he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister said this at a press conference after the Program Belia dan Desa Madani @KKDW opening at B5 Street Market, Tampoi, yesterday.

Also present were Rural and Regional Development Deputy Minister Datuk Rubiah Awang and the State Secretary and Johor Southeast Development Board (Kejora) chairman Tan Sri Dr Azmi Rohani.

On Thursday, Zahid was reported to have said that BN had done a post-mortem on the heavy defeat in the state election in six states.

He said he received a report from the coalition's information and 'war room' after the polls results did not side with BN.

"We will no longer look back, instead we will move forward. I will go down to 191 sections across the country.

"I wish to meet not only the four-level leadership but also the chief of the branches, Women’s chiefs and Youth chiefs of the branches," he said.

Commenting further, Zahid said collaboration with PH or DAP was not new because Umno had previously collaborated with Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan).

"This is not a new thing for BN, we have worked with Gerakan at one point in the past which was the opposition that controlled the Penang government at that time," he said.

The rejection of Umno members and the Malays, he said, did happen at that time but the enlightenment process was carried out by the BN government in 1974 before being accepted well after that.

"This is not impossible for us (PH-BN) to do even though the attack is very unusual with various slanders and issues raised.

"What is important in our country is togetherness and understanding between various races, cultures and religions must be shown so that racial prejudice does not arise.

"This is important because we want to form a civilised Malaysia with a diversity of races without abandoning the national identity of this country," he said.