3 info about the Umno General Assembly.
The 2022 Umno General Assembly, held in the aftermath of the party’s poor performance in the 15th general election, was more solemn than the previous edition, when the party was celebrating back-to-back state election victories in Melaka and Johor.
The question now is how the party will rebuild itself after its traditional Malay seats were almost completely swept up by PAS and Bersatu of Perikatan Nasional.
Here are three things we discovered during this year’s general assembly.
1. Zahid is clinging to power
The most significant development at this year’s Umno general assembly is the delegates’ approval of a “no contest” motion to prevent any challenge to the president and deputy president in the upcoming party election.
Most people believed the move was orchestrated by Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi or his faction as a way for him and his deputy, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, to maintain their positions in the face of criticism.
Zahid and Mohamad had led the party and its coalition, Barisan Nasional, to their worst-ever election performance in GE15, finishing third behind PH and PN, with only seven seats more than Gabungan Parti Sarawak, which only contested in Sarawak.
2. The Unity Government still needs to be sold.
Umno still needs to explain to its supporters why it decided to support the unity government with PKR and DAP, particularly to those who have spent years campaigning against the two political rivals.
To begin, the Umno leadership has launched a campaign to educate and inform members in Pahang and Perak about their respective states’ cooperation with PH, with Zahid himself playing a key role in a special briefing to delegates on the issue on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Mohamad set the tone by praising DAP while criticising PAS and Bersatu, which did not cause too much dissonance among delegates.
3. There will be more challenges ahead.
Umno must face not only an internal election, but also six state elections in a matter of months.
To make matters worse, Umno lost all of its traditional seats in five of these states during GE15: Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan, Penang, and Selangor.
All of the states are now led by PN and PH, making Umno’s path to recovery appear more difficult.
Zahid even mentioned it in his special briefing on Wednesday, saying that they might work with PH in the state elections.
It is expected that Umno will lead campaigns in Kelantan and Terengganu, while PH will lead campaigns in the remaining states.
