KUALA LUMPUR – Umno president Zahid Hamidi has started facing calls to step down as party president, and also as chair of the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN), in the immediate aftermath of his party’s resounding defeat at Malaysia’s general election on Saturday.

Johor Menteri Besar and party supreme council member Onn Hafiz Ghazi said on Sunday that Zahid should “graciously” step aside, emulating his predecessor Najib Razak, who stepped down as Umno president after BN suffered its first-ever electoral defeat at the 2018 election.

Datuk Onn said in a statement that Umno had fallen to a “Malay political tsunami” and that the party has been roundly rejected by the Malay electorate.

“If we don’t change now, we would not win even a single seat in the future,” Mr Onn said on his Facebook page. He said removing Zahid would be the “first step” towards rejuvenating the party.

Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan and the party’s Selangor chief Noh Omar both resigned on Sunday and immediately called for Zahid to do the same.

“I am of the opinion that Umno’s No. 1 leader should display a good example by leading the process of taking responsibility for this defeat – step aside respectfully,” Mr Shahril said, while stressing that his resignation was done in the spirit of collective responsibility.

Leaders from the Malaysian Chinese Association and Malaysian Indian Congress, both BN parties, have also joined a group of leaders calling for Zahid to step aside as BN chair to allow a new leader to determine the alliance’s direction. Their unhappiness with the Umno leader could yet force them to switch allegiances amid an impasse as to who will form Malaysia’s next federal government.

BN won only 30 seats in Malaysia’s general election on Saturday, but still looks poised to be a minority partner in the federal government by working with either of the two biggest blocs – Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN), which largely swept away Umno’s traditional seats. Malaysia currently has a hung Parliament.

Discontent and rumblings within Umno over Zahid’s leadership started late on Saturday as it became apparent that his confident plan for BN to win a simple majority on its own would not materialise. The party was scheduled to hold a series of meetings on Sunday to decide on its next course of action, but later postponed the meetings with no explanation provided.

Zahid, however, appears to have no intention of relinquishing control of the party. In a statement on Sunday, he reiterated that all elected BN MPs had signed statutory declarations giving him the mandate to negotiate with any party about a possible formation of the government post-election.

He denied BN had entered into an agreement with PN to form the next government

He also wasted little time in making a new appointment, replacing Mr Shahril with Mr Isham Jalil, a former aide of jailed former premier Najib.

Zahid, who has been party president for four years, narrowly held on to his Bagan Datuk seat for the seventh consecutive term, but is expected to face a leadership challenge during the Umno elections that are set to be held within six months.

He acknowledged on Saturday that BN’s poor showing at the polls was a “big signal”, but made no mention of his own position as Umno and BN chief.

However, he said BN was committed to helping form a stable government, and said the party was prepared to set aside “sentimental differences” that it had previously. Both PN and PH have claimed to have the numbers to form the next federal government, which ostensibly has to happen with BN’s backing.

While Zahid’s statement indicated willingness to cooperate with other parties without mentioning names, senior Umno leader Hishamuddin Hussein indicated that BN would not work with arch-rival PH. BN had previously joined hands with PN to prop up a mixed-coalition government with a single-digit majority in 2020 until polls were triggered.

Datuk Seri Hishamuddin is related to Mr Onn Hafiz, who is his nephew.

Zahid is also facing 47 corruption charges and is seen as one of the key orchestrators of the move to hold snap elections amid the country’s year-end monsoon floods.

PH won 82 seats in Malaysia’s election on Saturday, with PN winning 73 seats. BN won 30 seats, while Sarawak-based Gabungan Parti Sarawak won 22 seats. Sabah coalition Gabungan Rakyat Sabah won six seats. The fragmented political landscape makes it unlikely that any government will be formed with a supermajority.

The concurrent state assembly elections also served up no clear winners in Pahang and Perak, both former Umno-led states. Any federal-level compact will likely be mirrored in similar arrangements to break the impasse at these hung state assemblies.