BARISAN Nasional lynchpin Umno will fall further if it decides to go solo at the 15th general election, said the party’s former secretary-general Annuar Musa.

In a live Facebook interview last night, Annuar questioned why Umno was so confident of winning GE15 by going it alone.

“Umno will definitely lose if it takes the wrong path. Party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi must have winning formulas.

“He should be taking Umno to a higher level after the party lost in the last election.

“I am worried. Have we become so confident that we can win the election by going solo? If we do, we will fail,” said Annuar, the Federal Territories minister and Ketereh MP.

In an interview with Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan previously, Annuar said Umno could not go solo as the current political scenario is not the same as it was 20 years ago.

He had said now is the time to go into the election with co-operation and understanding with other Malay-Muslim parties, adding it was Umno’s responsibility to unite them.

Annuar has been continuously pushing for Umno, PAS and Bersatu to work together in GE15, saying their alliance could see them win 149 seats, most of which were Malay-majority areas, adding that Umno must negotiate and find the best formula.

At the Umno 2020 General Assembly last week, the party unanimously agreed to end co-operation with Bersatu in the coming elections with the delegates accepting the resolution proposed by the Supreme Council on February 19.

In his policy speech, Zahid also said that, aside from Bersatu, Umno will also not co-operate with Anwar Ibrahim or DAP in the national poll.

“We will contest under the Barisan Nasional banner and the ‘dacing’ logo,” the Umno president said.

Annuar in his Facebook interview last night said the general assembly was marred with discrepancies. Among the disparities was the change of speakers at the last minute before they were scheduled to speak.

He added that some proposals from certain divisions were also passed and this he said was sanctioned by top party leaders.

“This time the general assembly was different. There was a movement to pass certain proposals and certain complaints from certain divisions, and this was arranged by certain factions.”

“The other thing was speakers at state level were changed and that order came from above, a day before the meeting was held, again the names of the speakers were changed.

“Unlike previously – where proposals from the Supreme Council are debated by party representatives – this time the proposal from the Supreme Council was debated by the members of the body, which is unusual,” Annuar told the forum, which was moderated by political analyst Dr Mazlan Ali.

Annuar was sacked as Barisan Nasional’s secretary-general in January as he was said to have acted against the coalition’s interest.

A day after he was sacked, Annuar accused Zahid of using BN and Umno for his personal interest. He alleged Zahid of conspiring with Anwar and DAP to form a new political alignment without the knowledge of Umno MPs.  

Annuar added that the narrative during the Umno General Assembly was to portray him as a traitor to the party. – April 6, 2021.