IT is an idea that was mooted 50 years ago and one which had led to Onn Jaafar being ousted from the party he founded: should Umno open its doors to non-Malays?

This time around, it is party Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin who is suggesting that the 72-year-old Umno admit other races as members as a way to rebuild after its historic defeat in GE14.

By transforming from the “United Malay” into the “United Malaysian”nNational Organisation, the party would be able to catch up with the trend of non-racial politics that had borne its rival into Putrajaya. That is the rationale, at least.

But the party grassroots feel differently. To them, it was not the party identity as the single voice of Malay Muslims that the voters had rejected.

“It was about Najib (Razak) and Rosmah (Mansor) and our feudal system. It was not a rejection of our identity as a Malay party,” said a Kedah Umno grassroots member, who identified himself as Ahmad.

“Because on the Pakatan Harapan side, you have PPBM (Bersatu) which is a Malay-based party and DAP, which is a Chinese-based party, and they got elected,” said Ahmad, referring to two component parties in PH.

The observation dovetails with what political analysts have said of the general election which saw Barisan Nasional lose 54 of the 133 parliamentary seats it won in GE13 and ousted for the first time since Merdeka. Umno lost 35 of the 89 parliamentary seats it held going into the general election.

BN’s defeat was due to anger at the unpopular goods and services tax (GST) and the scandals surrounding Umno president and ex-prime minister Najib Razak, said political scientist Tunku Mohar Tunku Mokhtar of  International Islamic University.

“Umno could still have an advantage in its Malay-Muslim identity,” he said.

Following calls for Umno to be rejuvenated, Khairy said the party should consider opening its doors to non-Malays and non-Muslims.

For Selangor Umno member Kalam Azad Abu Bakar, Umno’s identity had never been the issue then and it was not the issue now.

“Umno’s Malay-Muslim identity follows the federal constitution’s provisions concerning the position of Malays and Islam. To me, it’s not an issue nor is it a problem,” said Kalam Azad, who is a member of the Kelana Jaya division.

The party had been and still is the voice of rural Malays, said Perak Umno division leader Ahmad Shalimin Ahmad Shaffie. For that reason, it should maintain its identity.

“I think we have to go back to basics. We have been too long in the comfort zone.”

Political scientist Prof James Chin of Tasmania University said Umno would survive with its core ideology of Malay supremacy intact ,as GE14 showed there was still a market for race and religion-based politics.

In fact, independent pollster Merdeka Centre found that even though they lost federal power, Umno and BN garnered 44.3% of the Malay vote in GE14.

“The rank and file of Umno will never accept the idea (of admitting non-Malay members). The core principles of Umno are ‘ketuanan Melayu’ (Malay supremacy) and ‘ketuanan Islam’ (Islamic supremacy).

“So Umno cannot be multiracial under any circumstance,” said Chin.

“But people who think Umno is finished are living in la la land – 40% of Malays still voted for Umno, so ketuanan Melayu and ketuanan Islam still have strong support.” – May 20, 2018.