Bersatu incited rural Malays to vote for DAP, says Zahid

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has reiterated his party’s opposition to working with DAP, and said that unlike Bersatu, Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) had never tried to entice Malay voters to support the opposition party.

(FMT) – In a Facebook post, the Bagan Datuk MP said Umno and BN have been the most “credible” bloc in rejecting DAP’s idealism.

“Umno and BN have never entered into political cooperation with DAP under any circumstance,” he said.

“During (the last general election), Umno fought against DAP while Bersatu at the time went here and there to support DAP. Umno and BN remind the people that Bersatu incited Malays in villages to vote for DAP.”

Zahid said that after the 2018 elections, Umno and BN maintained their opposition to DAP, while it was Bersatu that stayed aligned to and tried to defend them.

“Bersatu only left DAP after the support of the people, especially the Malays, declined sharply.

“Umno and BN leaders have never been willing to hold a live press conference to appeal for a DAP lifeline to remain in power,” he added in a likely reference to former prime minister and Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin’s plea for support in his final days in office, during which he offered a number of political reforms if he could garner the backing he needed to stay in office.

Umno had said numerous times previously that it would not work with Bersatu in the next general election.

Both parties are members of the current ruling administration, but the relationship has been tenuous dating back to Muhyiddin’s tenure. Ultimately, it was the withdrawal of support by Zahid and a number of other Umno MPs that led to the fall of Muhyiddin and saw Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob ascend to power.