Umno chief Zahid takes ‘full responsibility’ for party’s dismal showing in state polls

PETALING JAYA – Taking “full responsibility” for Umno’s poor showing in the six Malaysian state elections on Saturday, president Zahid Hamidi has pledged to improve the party’s fortunes.

However, he stopped short of saying if that means he will relinquish his position.

“I am aware of such calls (for him to step down). What I can pledge is that I, with the help of the party’s leadership, will do more to regain the people’s confidence.

“We will scrutinise our approach and strategies. We will adopt new ones so we can win over the hearts and minds of voters again,” he told The Star.

There have been calls for him to resign as president since Umno’s disastrous showing in the Aug 12 polls, when it won only 19 of the 108 seats it contested.

It lost all the seats it vied for in Terengganu and Kedah, won only two in Penang and Selangor, and one in Kelantan, although it fared better in Negeri Sembilan, with 14.

 Datuk Seri Zahid said he is aware there are those in the party who want him to take responsibility by leaving his position.

“This is not the first time an Umno president has been pressured to step down. It has happened before, including to Pak Lah (Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) and also to Najib (Razak), when election results did not favour us,” he pointed out.

Mr Abdullah stepped down as prime minister and Umno president in 2009, a year after the 12th general election, where then ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional (BN), had a poor showing. Umno is the lynchpin party of BN.

In 2018, Najib resigned as Umno president after BN lost in the general election.

“While I take responsibility for the outcome of the elections, as (vice-president) Johari (Abdul Ghani) pointed out, it should be the collective responsibility of Umno leadership,” he said.

Datuk Johari, one of Umno’s three vice-presidents, has said that all Umno leaders must shoulder the responsibility for BN’s dismal performance.

Umno was the only BN party that took part in the six state polls.

Mr Zahid said one of the issues that had to be addressed is the party’s cooperation with the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in the so-called unity government.

The DAP is a member of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition. PH and BN are now allies in Malaysia’s so-called unity government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

“We did several sessions to explain this at the divisional level. Perhaps, the message did not reach the grassroots, or maybe it needs to be further explained at that level,” Mr Zahid said.

He added that because of this, there are Umno members who are still confused over the cooperation.

This, he noted, might have affected the party in the polls. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK