Muhyiddin: Umno, which won only 54 seats vs PPBM’s 12 seats, is finished and its time Malays realised this


(FMT) – Umno has been destroyed and it is time for the Malays to treat it as non-existent, former Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin said.

Muhyiddin, who is now Umno off-shoot PPBM’s president, said: “That party did not only lose (the May 9 general election), but it was also destroyed. That is why we formed Bersatu (PPBM).”

He said this in an interview with Malaysiakini and Sinar Harian on Friday.

“We saw this coming. I said as much in my policy speech during the (2014) Umno general assembly, I warned the party that we might lose the election, but he (then Umno president Najib Razak) did not want to listen.

“Najib thought that when he got rid of me, he solved the problem. But he is the one who was gotten rid of, and I returned,” he said.

Muhyiddin was sacked from Umno in 2016 after he questioned Najib’s handling of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal.

On a possible coalition between Umno and PAS – after they had worked together in the Sungai Kandis and Seri Setia by-elections – Muhyiddin said such a coalition would not be strong enough to pose a threat to Pakatan Harapan.

“Their ideologies, understanding of politics, and even their political methodologies are different. So on that note, I don’t think they can become a strong coalition.”

The question, he said, was whether such a coalition would be strong “because in Umno, which I was a member of, they have never felt that they could be together with PAS”.

Some in Umno would not agree with the idea of joining up with PAS.

“The same goes for some in PAS, which viewed Umno as un-Islamic and evil. What more after they lost so badly in the 14th general election,” he was quoted as saying.

On PAS’s influence in the east coast, particularly in Kelantan and Terengganu, and PH’s strategy to win voters over, Muhyiddin said he was baffled by the hold PAS had there.

He said: “It is like the people on the east coast are bound to PAS. That is why our strategy to work with them and have Amanah lead us in those states was not successful in attracting support for Harapan.

“I believe this will continue for a time, and it is hard to say until when… maybe when they realise that Harapan is a strong government that is able to help and defend Malays and Muslims.”

He said even if PH did things the Islamic way in terms of social and economic development, the people there seemed to see these efforts as un-Islamic.

“So whatever we do is deemed un-Islamic. This is the psyche of the people in Kelantan,” he was quoted as saying.

 



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