IT will be unwise for Umno to go solo in the next general election as that will lead to multi-cornered contests and split the Malay vote, a pollster found.

A survey by the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research showed that Umno running alone will result in a repeat of the 2018 polls which saw tri-cornered contests and divided Malay voters.

“In our view, Perikatan Nasional’s dominance among the Malay electorate will be negatively affected should Umno decide to go it alone, casting uncertainty as to the outcome if elections were held.

“Should this scenario realise itself, it may create conditions similar to the 2018 general election where Malay voters were split three-ways in multi-corner contests,” the pollster said in a report.

The 1,202 people surveyed in the last week of December were Malay (52%), Chinese (29%), Indian (7%), Muslim Bumiputera (6%) and non-Muslim Bumiputera in Sabah and Sarawak (6%).

In the survey, 42% respondants said no to Umno quitting PN. Nearly as many (41%) said no to Umno standing alone in the next polls while 39% said yes.

The survey comes amid high tension between Umno and Bersatu and PAS.

Rows broke out last weekend after Umno leaders in meetings took potshots at Bersatu, ending with Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announcing that the party would contest in all the seats it had won, including those currently held by Bersatu.

Zahid also said Barisan Nasional parties will contest under the BN logo as is the tradition instead of under the new PN logo.

Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan on Sunday urged Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to call for elections. Ahmad said now that the vaccine is ready to be rolled out, Muhyiddin may no longer use the Covid-19 crisis as an excuse to delay polls.

Umno elections director Tajuddin Abdul Rahman also made it clear yesterday that Umno will not work with Bersatu in the 15th general election.

Pahang Umno state liaison chief Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail told Bersatu not to contest in Pahang because it does not have a seat in the state.

Meanwhile, Free Malaysia Today reported today that the Pulai Umno division in Johor has passed a resolution asking that the party quits the PN government at once to force a general election.

Pulai Umno chairman Nur Jazlan Mohamed said delegates at the annual general meeting on Friday had unanimously decided that it is in the best interest of Umno and its reputation to leave the ruling coalition before the party is blamed for PN’s failure to provide good governance. – January 5, 2021.