UMNO has no plans to forge any political alliances with PKR following Anwar Ibrahim’s return to Parliament, said its president, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. 

He said Umno would remain with other opposition parties, such as PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak, to strengthen the opposition bloc in Parliament. 

“We have not made any moves but will strengthen the line of opposition parties to raise issues of concern to the people in Parliament,” Zahid said at the Parliament lobby today. 

Zahid, who was Umno Youth chief in 1996-1998, was once seen as a close ally of Anwar before the latter was sacked from the party. 

Following Anwar’s dismissal, Zahid and four Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia leaders were arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act in September 1998 for posing a threat to national security. 

They were arrested at Anwar’s then residence in Bukit Damansara a day after the PKR president-elect’s arrest under the same law. 

During the 1997 Umno general assembly, Zahid had spoken out against then party president Dr Mahathir Mohamad, urging the latter to end cronyism in the country. – October 16, 2018.