Malaysia’s United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) will remain part of the unity government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim until the next general election, said party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Tuesday (Jan 6).
This comes amid calls by UMNO Youth chief Akmal Saleh for the party to withdraw its support for Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led government and align itself with the opposition bloc.
The matter was discussed during UMNO’s political bureau meeting on Monday, reported local news outlet the New Straits Times (NST).
“I have held this position from the start and the party has also maintained from the beginning that we will never break ranks with the current government … and we will continue to be part of the unity government until the end of the term,” Zahid was quoted as saying by NST on Tuesday.
Zahid, who is also Malaysia’s deputy prime minister, added that UMNO does not want to repeat past mistakes by forming alliances with opposition parties at this juncture.
The current term of Malaysia's government is expected to end by late 2027. The next general election must be held by February 2028.
On Saturday, UMNO youth leader Akmal held a special convention calling on the party to withdraw from the unity government and team up with the opposition’s Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), claiming that UMNO’s current role in the government has forced it to compromise on what he described as “red lines” involving race, religion and royalty.
The convention on Saturday was to discuss whether the party should continue cooperating with the PH coalition led by Anwar, with local media reporting that the meeting was prompted by the refusal of a member of parliament from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which is part of PH, to apologise for a social media post she had put up.
