Ku Li expecting Umno’s decline in GE16, says PAS leader

PAS central committee member Awang Hashim describes Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s call for Umno to invite the Malays back to the party as ‘outdated’.

(FMT) – A PAS leader says Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is only rallying for Malay unity under the party’s banner as he has foreseen Umno’s decline in the upcoming election.

“He can see that Umno will be gone, and the current seats will be at risk come the next general election (GE16),” PAS central committee member Awang Hashim told FMT.

“The Malays will continue to reject Umno, hence his call for Malay unity under Umno.”

In an exclusive interview with FMT, Tengku Razaleigh, also known as Ku Li, said Umno should invite the Malays to return to the party, and get members from splinter parties like Bersatu and PAS to reunite under the Barisan Nasional lynchpin.

The splits that led to the creation of different parties had weakened the collective political influence of the Malays, he said.

The former Gua Musang MP also said Bersatu and PAS had only garnered support from the Malay electorate due to dissatisfaction with Umno’s inability to stay true to its principles.

Awang, the Pendang MP, said Tengku Razaleigh’s call was “outdated”, as Umno was no longer the dominant party.

“(The idea of) having the Malays under Umno is outdated. He’s still entrenched in the era when Umno wielded significant influence in national politics,” he said.

“The Malays have drifted away from Umno. They’ve lost trust in it. How can they be expected to return to Umno?”

Awang also rejected the notion that Malay support for Perikatan Nasional (PN) stemmed from dissatisfaction with Umno and its shortcomings.

Instead, he attributed the strong backing received by PAS and Bersatu to PN’s track record in governance after the 14th general election.

“The people themselves have lost faith in Umno,” he said.