PETALING JAYA: Barisan Nasional (BN), with Umno at the helm, is on the comeback trail as indicated in the recent Malacca state election, say political analysts.
Universiti Malaya political analyst Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi said Umno plays a dominant role in the coalition as its supporting parties are in a weak state, with MCA only having two seats and MIC one in the Dewan Rakyat.
“The most important thing going for Umno is its strong grassroots support even when many of its leaders jumped ship after the last general election.
“Even during bleak times, no one heard of an Umno branch being dissolved or its party meeting lacking a quorum,” said Awang Azman, adding that this shows how loyal its grassroots have remained even during bad times.
Council of Professors Malaysia senior fellow Prof Dr Jeniri Amir said Umno is the backbone of BN as MCA and MIC only play minor roles.
He said Umno, and by extension BN, is dominant again as it plays a major role in the federal government, and it also won the Malacca state polls handsomely.
“The revival of the political fortunes of BN is down to Umno realising what they need to do to survive.
“They had to swallow a bitter pill while sitting as the Opposition for 22 months. This taught them a valuable lesson,” said Jeniri.
Awang Azman added that Umno now has to look at creating a young, dynamic and strong leadership to take the party forward.
He said the party has been plagued by older leaders refusing to step down despite knowing their time is up.
“Some leaders, such as former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, served as a leader for 22 years and this was accepted by everyone in the party.
“The political landscape changed after the 14th general election, although Umno is gaining ground.”
Awang Azman added that Umno has been carrying MCA and MIC in the coalition for a long time as it aims to remain a multi-party coalition.
He said they have given both the parties a lifeline to remain in the political arena.
Jeniri said luckily for BN, Pakatan Harapan made a lot of mistakes while in government.
“Although MCA and MIC are weak parties, Umno still needs them to help BN remain a multi-party and multi-racial coalition to convince voters they are the best to lead them.
“With the support of Umno, the two parties may pick up a few extra seats in the next general election.”
Jeniri said that one important thing Umno needs to overcome is the hold of warlords on the party.
“As Umno rejuvenates, it needs young and dynamic leadership, which is slow to develop because of the warlords,” he said, adding that to safeguard the party’s future, the warlord rule must come to an end.