UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has hinted that the Muafakat Nasional (MN) pact between Umno and PAS is dead.

He was asked in an interview how he expected MN to fare at the next general election, he grinned and retorted: “does the MN still exist?”

Since the signing of the MN agreement on September 14, 2019, political co-operation between the partners has stalled with the Islamist PAS leaning more towards its Perikatan Nasional pact with Bersatu.

The Umno president said if the party were to take heed of social media comments that Umno has been stabbed in the back, then it is better for the party “to go solo” under the Barisan Nasional flag in the next general election.

He said Umno sees that it is better to have a free-for-all because, after the dust of the election has settled and depending how the various parties fared, then it’s easier to talk about forming coalitions and how the government should be formed.

Earlier, in the 22-minute interview, he spoke of the abnormality in the new cabinet of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, in which key Umno leaders were overlooked for ministerial and deputy posts.

“We will just wait for the 15th general election,” he said, adding that right now, all the party could do is to respect Ismail’s prerogative.

“Maybe there are some written or unwritten agreements made that resulted in his hands being tied behind his back.” – September 30, 2021.