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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright June 2023
It's a sad day for Umno. Once a powerful party now has to be reminded by its very own president that it is no longer a dominant political force in the country.
Political pundits have been predicting on the coming demise of Umno for years, but this acceptance of its loss of power by its own president is the defining moment in history that seals its fate forever.
"We are not dominant, and we must recognise this fact," says Zahid during a recent Umno general assembly.
Having said that, Zahid made a conclusive statement, "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.
How could you be feeling "strongly" when in the face of "the party’s abysmal performance in the last general election with only 23 per cent of the vote going to Umno, while the number of parliamentary seats won was only 11 per cent?"
He then conceded that "We lost twice — in the 14th and 15th general elections. We must rise again. We must rectify our weaknesses,” he added.
This is indeed once beaten, twice shy story. But being overwhelmed by opponents more than once and dwarfed in Parliament by others is indeed difficult for a president to make a motivating speech calling its members to rise and fight for a victory that we believe may just sound hollow to many representatives at the assembly.
During the last general election of November 2022, Umno won only 26 federal seats, with Barisan Nasional (BN) winning 30 seats out of the 191 contested. It is dwarfed by PAS and DAP, with more than 40 going to both.
However, by sheer political maneuvering, Zahid has managed to make the party part of the governing coalition and its MPs holding many ministerial posts at the expense of DAP representatives who rightly deserve to be holding those important portfolios.
Anyway, the above depressing scenario may dampen the spirit of some members but Zahid who has lost many "warlords" may have to rebuild the party and rise again like a sphinx out of the ashes from the last two elections.
However, the odds, according to many experts, are against Umno, winning many seats in coming state polls.
Khairy commented in the post describing Umno as "bungkus" (wiped out) in the upcoming state election expected to be held in July.
So, how then could Umno rise like the mysterious sphinx from the current position to regain its position of its glory days as a dominant political force in the country?
Your guess is as good as mine!
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